Atlanta Braves season in review: 1st baseman Freddie Freeman

He doesn’t hold the formal title, but there is no doubt who’s the Captain of the Atlanta Braves.  Here’s how his 2019 season went.

We should all have friends so loyal – and the Atlanta Braves have enjoyed the company of a couple such players since the mid-1990’s.  Chipper Jones was the 1st of these – and led the Atlanta Braves as their middle-of-the-order ‘constant’ for nearly 2 decades.

However, nothing lasts forever, so when he hung up the spikes after the 2012 campaign, a void was left.  There were some relatively new kids around, but Brian McCann became unaffordable after 2013 and Jason Heyward chose another path after 2014.

That same year, though, Freddie Freeman was offered a contract that was the largest single deal in franchise history:  8 years and $135 million.  In signing the pact, he took on the commitment… and has stayed true to that for what appears to be the entire eight years and probably beyond.

Shortly thereafter, the ‘lean years’ of the rebuild began.  Freeman was very active in checking with the Front Office… multiple Front Offices, in fact… about the plans and the progress.

Publicly, we have only heard that Freeman wanted to stay in Atlanta and that he wants to complete his career with the Braves.

There have been a few reports that there was at least a bit of chatter about moving The Franchise.

The topic came up in late 2015 as the Astros and Braves were apparently discussing a mega-deal involving Freeman.  At roughly the same time, John Coppollela issued his famous “right arm” quote to deny that any deal involving Freeman would be made:

"“I cannot make it any more clear: We are not trading Freddie Freeman,” Coppolella said. “We are not. I’d give my right arm before we trade Freddie Freeman. It is not happening.”"

After that… the chatter died away and Freeman’s commitment to Atlanta seemed to grow more solid by the day.

Accordingly, he has been that cornerstone to build around – and that’s exactly what 3 Managers and 3 General Managers have effectively been doing over the past 8 seasons.

2019 has proved to be yet another season of commitment by the Atlanta 1st baseman – let’s review what’s he’s done.