Many in and outside the baseball industry were surprised when Freddie Freeman signed with the Dodgers last offseason. The general expectation was that he would re-sign with the Braves, continuing his long career with the organization. Yet that was ruled out when Atlanta acquired Matt Olson from the A’s shortly after the lockout, and Freeman landed in LA a few days later.
Developments in the last few days of the talks have been the subject of controversy, which resurfaced over the weekend when a visibly emotional Freeman returned to Atlanta. The 2020 NL MVP received his World Series ring and met many former teammates and coaches, and understandably struggled to put into words how much his time in the Braves organization meant to him and his family.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Freeman fired his longtime agency, Excel Sports Management, out of frustration with how his agent release process had turned out. Freeman himself characterizes the matter differently, admitting his performance is a “fluid situation” but leaving open the possibility of mending fences with Excel and expressing a desire to move forward with the Dodgers.
The controversy reignited yesterday when Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb tweeted that Excel’s lead negotiator Casey Close never informed Freeman of a final offer from the Braves. Gottlieb claims Close “knew (Freeman) was going to take the Atlanta deal” but made the unilateral decision to keep it for his client, seemingly because he thought he could beat the offer elsewhere. Close strongly denied that notion last night, releasing a statement (on Twitter) that read “Doug Gottlieb tweeted a completely inaccurate characterization of our negotiations with the Atlanta Braves on behalf of Freddie Freeman. We are immediately evaluating all legal options to address the reckless posting of inaccurate information.
This afternoon, Close made another statement aimed at the Braves themselves. In a message first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Close claimed that “The Braves have promoted a narrative about the negotiations that is, frankly, false. Part of this false narrative is the assumption that I did not communicate a contract offer to the Freemans. To be clear, we reported every offer made, as well as every communication Excel had with the Braves organization throughout the process.“
Close did not refer to anyone in particular in his remarks. However, it’s worth noting that Freeman admitted in late March that he had a three-hour conversation with Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos “to hear his side of things,” after initially hinting that Anthopoulos and his team haven’t been particularly forthcoming during the free agent process (link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Freeman made a more general reference to communication with Braves personnel this week, telling reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times ) that he “learned a lot” about his free agency “because I talked to the other side.”
All winter, the suspension between the Braves and Freeman seemed to be about the question of a sixth guaranteed year. Atlanta was unwilling to extend the 32-year-old beyond five years. Justin Toscano of the Journal-Constitution hears from a source who suggests Freeman’s camp has given the Braves a choice between two offers: $165 million over five years or $175 million over six years. Atlanta declined to respond to those numbers, and according to Toscano, the parties mutually agreed to move forward. (Olney wrote this week that the Braves have lowered their final offer to about five years and $140 million). The Braves acquired Olson two days later; Freeman ended up signing a six-year, $162 million offer with the Dodgers, though the deferrals reduced the net present value of the contract to about $149 million.
Whatever led to the stall in negotiations between the Braves and Freeman, the fallout included an ugly dispute between his former team and one of the game’s most powerful agents. Excel Sports Management represents dozens of players, including stars such as Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Tucker and high-profile upcoming free agents Andrew Benintendi and Dansby Swanson. Swanson has already said the Freeman saga will have no bearing on his choice of representation, as he has no plans to leave Excel before his first trip to the open market.
There’s clearly some level of tension between the agency and the Atlanta organization, but it’s worth noting that neither Close nor anyone on the Braves suggested there would be adverse effects on negotiations between the team and other Excel clients. It stands to reason that the Braves would be interested in re-signing Swanson, a Georgia native and six-year starter coming off the best season of his career.
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