Should Atlanta Braves go ahead and (try to) extend Freddie Freeman?
By James Kunkle
Freddie Freeman is the heartbeat of this Atlanta Braves team. Even though he is signed for two more seasons after the current season, should the Braves go ahead and try to extend his deal?
The one constant since Chipper Jones retired has been Freddie Freeman. He is the focal point of everything the Atlanta Braves do, as well as he should be.
Still young (he turns 30 on September 12th) he still should have plenty of good seasons ahead of him, especially when you consider the fact he virtually plays every game of every season and has only been hurt majorly once in his career. That was when he broke his wrist in 2017 when a Aaron Loup pitch hit him.
Most of us know the numbers but for the few who don’t, or for the ones who just want to be reminded, here they are.
Freddie is a 4 time All-Star, who is already 28th on the active Home Run list. He already has 225 career long balls which if he keeps up his current pace, he has more than a realistic shot at eclipsing 400 career Home Runs.
To top it all off, Freddie is 38th in active WAR with his WAR rating of 37.0. As far as hitters in the Majors go, that puts him in 27th on the active list. Some of the names above him on that list, he is soon to pass include
- Russell Martin
- Ryan Zimmerman
- Hanley Ramirez
- Yadier Molina
- Brett Gardner
- Troy Tulowitzki
- Ben Zobrist
- Curtis Granderson
- Dustin Pedroia
As you can tell, Freddie is just two or three normal season away from passing all of those players and being in the top 15 at worst.
Enough about the bat though, let’s talk about the part of his game that really makes him one of the 10 best players in the game today in my eyes….his defense.
Finally getting recognized in 2018, Freddie won his first NL Gold Glove award. Hopefully, his second is right around the corner here in 2019 because he leads all NL first baseman in 2019 in fielding % at .996.
He also was awarded the Wilson Defensive player of the year award in 2018.
Bottom line is he can swing the bat obviously and he can play defense with the best of them. Heck, he may be the best defensive first baseman in the game? Those two factors alone are why he is also my pick for NL MVP this year at the moment.
Freddie is signed for $22 million in both 2020 and 2021. I would propose something like tacking on 3 years at somewhere between $25 and $30 million annually. In doing so, the Braves would have Freddie, Ronald Acuna, and Ozzie Albies all locked up for the next 5 years. As long as some of these pitchers progress like we all hope, the Atlanta Braves are in the early part of a potential dynasty. We all already knew that though. Let’s just not forget it was in large part to Freddie sticking with us in the few dark years we had.
Would you do this move? Would you rather just let his current contract play out and then talk? Let us know in the comment section below.