Atlanta Braves news: the complexities of a Freddie Freeman contract extension
By now it’s fairly obvious that getting a new Atlanta Braves contract for Freddie Freeman isn’t going to be trivial.
The Atlanta Braves need to re-sign Freddie Freeman to an extension to keep him securely in Atlanta beyond 2021.
This is as clear as the Cardinals signing Yadi Molina, the Dodgers re-upping Clayton Kershaw, or the Mets retaining Jacob deGrom.
We’re talking about “face of the franchise” level players here — the kind you go to war for 162+ games a year and market the team with over the rest of the calendar’s days.
But nobody ever said these things were easy.
In the case of Freeman, he’s already sniffed the rarefied air of this team’s spending: his current contract (8 years/$135 million) is the longest and highest-valued one in the 150-year history of the franchise (that length record remains until Acuna and/or Albies’ option years are exercised).
Even so, there’s no arguing this point: he’s been worth every dime of that and a whole lot more.
During those years (2014-present), he’s ground out over 31 fWAR of production despite a number of nagging injuries along the way that he overcame. That values out to something close to double the contract’s value.
Oh, and he’s the current reigning MVP of the National League.
So what’s the problem here? Unfortunately, there’s several things involved.
Let’s address a few:
1. The Braves Financial Climate.
This isn’t just about the Atlanta Braves — it’s about baseball in general. Sure: eight players (Trout, Betts, Lindor, Tatis Jr., Harper, Stanton, Cole, and Machado) have all received contracts topping $300 million in recent years… but that’s not where either the Braves or Freeman are at.
The impact of COVID-19 to the sport has been keenly felt by most clubs, and that will continue to be a problem for multiple years to come. While the “elite” will continue to get paid, there will be a profound impact on player compensation at all levels below that threshold.
The guess here is that it will take some additional time, but that the Braves will have to eventually come around to the correct contract pay-point… which we’ll discuss further along.