Complete coverage: Dodgers sign Freddie Freeman to six-year, $162 million contract

On Wednesday night, the Dodgers made another major splash in free agency, agreeing to terms with former Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman on a six-year, $162 million contract.

Freeman, a former National League MVP who grew up in Orange County, is regarded as one of free agency’s most valuable assets and immediately improves the Dodgers’ chances of winning the World Series.

Braves’ GM thinks his emotions over losing Freddie Freeman to the Dodgers were sincere.

North Port, Florida. Alex Anthopoulos claimed he was too busy Friday to see Freddie Freeman’s first news conference as a Dodger. By the end of the day, the Atlanta Braves’ head of baseball operations had reached an agreement with former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen to finalize an indirect trade of franchise pillars between the franchises.
But Anthopoulos viewed footage of Freeman’s introduction. And he noticed Freeman’s rage at the Braves. At one point, Freeman was asked if he had seen the video of Anthopoulos choking up when speaking to the media last Monday, after he acquired first baseman Matt Olson, thereby ending Freeman’s tenure in Atlanta.

The brusque response sent an underlying message: Freeman, at best, did not care for the tears — if he believed they were real at all. He stated that the Braves’ choice to acquire Olson “blindsided” him. He considered it an unjustifiably frigid move.

On Sunday, Anthopoulos asserted that the tears were real. He praised the 2020 National League Most Valuable Player for his on-field performance and off-field presence. He described Freeman as “a partner in a lot of ways” who he occasionally regarded as an assistant general manager. He acknowledged Freeman with playing a key role in his four-year tenure as Braves general manager.

“At the end of the day, he’s going to be a Brave forever,” said Anthopoulos, who spent two years in the Dodgers’ front office before joining Atlanta in November 2017. “There’s a wave of feelings. Just as he said. Everyone is human. You’re experiencing a wave of emotions. You are not human if you lack emotion, right?

“Regardless of how you slice it, today is a sad day. For our clubhouse, our supporters, and for me personally. And it is simply the nature of being human. And you can’t stay with someone for four years, develop close to them, and go through what we’ve been through without experiencing feelings.”