It’s rare for a player to switch agents immediately after signing a monster deal. But Freddie Freeman is seriously considering doing just that, and is actually expected to, as Buster Olney first reported.
Freeman was clearly not happy to leave the Braves, even if it meant almost coming home to the Dodgers (he’s from The OC), and initially blamed Braves management for being very budget-conscious despite being a huge money maker ( they are mentioned to have made $100 million in profit in 2021), can be very corporate and doesn’t lean towards the warm or fuzzy. But after gathering information about what happened, he at least partially blames Excel, his longtime representatives. Another thing to wonder about: while it’s clear today that Freeman wanted badly to stay, one has to wonder if his agents got and understood that message? It’s up to Freeman to decide who deserves the blame, but the Braves don’t appear to be at fault here, based on what I’ve gathered.
Here’s how the talks went according to sources. For the record, Excel’s chief baseball agent Casey Close denied the story reported here by others, saying in the text that it was “false,” without further elaboration.
In any case, Freeman himself believes the Braves tried harder than he previously thought (although from here on out, while their offers were comparable to the Dodgers’ deal, the Braves didn’t seem as concerned with keeping the Braves legend as they might to imagine). Although he responded to the initial report that he was leaving Excel by saying the situation was “fluid”, the expectation is that he is indeed likely to leave the agency.
Freddie Freeman is expected to part ways with the Excel agency. Getty Images
No matter who you believe, something clearly went wrong, as Freeman’s tears in Atlanta told a story. He seemed so upset that he was gone that Hall of Fame-bound Dodgers teammate Clayton Kershaw, also an Excel representative, publicly hoped the Dodgers weren’t “second fiddle,” reminding Freeman that the Dodgers were “pretty special’ team and suggested that he would ‘really like it once he gets comfortable here’.
As for specifics, sources say the Braves offered $135 million over five years right after last summer’s trade deadline, upping their initial offer of $125 million (matching the annual salary of another Excel client, George Springer). Even though the Braves were only around .500 at the time, they decided to pass on the $130 million Paul Goldschmidt deal, agreeing that Freeman was the better player with an even better resume. At the time, Excel proposed that the offer be for six years.
Then, after the lockout ended, Excel called the Braves on March 12 to give them several counter offers and let them know they needed an immediate response and should submit their maximum offer considering they were ready to move. That night, sources say Excel presented two options as “Braves prices,” which likely meant a discounted deal for his preferred team: $165 million over five years or $175 million over six. They also increased the urgency by telling the Braves they had exactly an hour to respond.
The Braves came back and said no thanks to Excel’s numbers, but because they had to try something for an iconic Brave after the World Series win and the end of the lockout, sources say they verbally upped their offer to $140 million for five. It wasn’t a huge raise for an iconic player, but Freeman’s representatives could counter at this point, and it’s hard to imagine the Braves wouldn’t go for at least $145 million given his value to the franchise. Instead, sources say the talks appear to have ended amicably, with the sides beginning to talk about Excel’s other free agents and the Braves believing Freeman’s camp has something for $175 million-plus and they’re about to get him.
Freddie Freeman was emotional when he received his World Series ring when the Dodgers visited the Braves. AP Freddie Freeman while with the Braves. AP
Then the Braves, apparently thinking Freeman should be close to a deal elsewhere, turned their attention to other options. They tried to sign Anthony Rizzo the next day and came up short, as they were told Rizzo wanted to wait until Freeman was off the board (he may also have preferred to return to the Yankees, where he soon landed ). So Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos called up Billy Beane from the A’s on March 13 and made the trade for Matt Olson the next day. Soon after, the Braves announced an 8-year, $168 million deal, showing how much they wanted him.
The first problem is that Freeman apparently didn’t end up where he wanted, even though the Braves reportedly made two competing offers.
The second is that he didn’t get a better deal in LA than the one the Braves reportedly offered. The $162 million over six years in Los Angeles is tempered by an estimated $13 million tax increase in California over Georgia, $57 million in deferred cash in the LA deal for another approximately $13 million loss (the Braves deferred nothing), and about $1 million more in Excel commissions , given that the deal is $22 million more minus deferrals (assuming a 5 percent commission). So the estimated value of the Dodgers deal is about the same or slightly lower for one more year of play. In any case, at the very least, the hand appears to have been exaggerated in light of how badly Freeman apparently wanted to stay in Georgia.
Excel, the second largest agency in the game and a huge success that handled Derek Jeter, Goldschmidt, Kershaw, Zack Greinke and many other stars and got many excellent contracts (ie $206.5 million for Greinke) is on way to lose his second big player right after getting big deals. Trevor Story has left the Red Sox after his six-year, $140 million contract. However, Excel is likely to collect about $15 million in commissions from the two deals.
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