Braves sign Freeman to 8 year 135M deal! *Updated to 135m*

[nsacpi]

You may well be right, but Freddie is 3 years away from FA, yet we are giving him on average $22MM to $23MM in his FA years, close what he might command in 3 years. That is essentially no discount at all, which is the main reason a team locks someone up years away from FA.

While Wren usually does a good job of getting good value in trades, his long term contract history is one where he always seem to pay the highest price. Seems we should have been able to get this done for something closer to $120MM than $135MM.

I think it is more like 20-21M in his FA years. If he had gone to free agency he would have gotten around 25M/year. I think it is a reasonable discount.

[mossy]

If we can just get out of this media deal......

Is that a possibility? I got the feeling we were locked forever.

[Heyward]

You may well be right, but Freddie is 3 years away from FA, yet we are giving him on average $22MM to $23MM in his FA years, close what he might command in 3 years. That is essentially no discount at all, which is the main reason a team locks someone up years away from FA.

While Wren usually does a good job of getting good value in trades, his long term contract history is one where he always seem to pay the highest price. Seems we should have been able to get this done for something closer to $120MM than $135MM.

Freeman is a top-10 1B, arguably top 5 with another great year, maybe MVP year.

You just have to understand the money landscape in baseball right now.

[mfree80]

Let's assume Freeman had won his arb hearing had it come to that. He then would have been awarded a salary of $5.75MM. On the normal, 40-60-80 scale to determine future arb raises, he would have received salaries somewhere in the neighborhood of $8.75MM in 2015 and $11.75MM in 2016. That would come to $26.25MM for his remaining 3 years of arbitration. Now that we know he is getting $135MM for 8 years, his average yearly salary for the 5 free agent years we just bought would come to $21.75MM.
In the las
Had the Braves won the hearing and Freeman been awarded $4.5MM, his 3 arb years would have gotten him around $21MM and the 5 free agent years AVV would be $22.8MM.

While I agree that locking up Freeman was a good move for the club, it does not appear that the contract is a particularly team friendly one considering he still had 3 years left until FA. I would say that it is a fair deal, but not a team friendly one.

In the last few years of this this contract, it will be considered "team friendly."

[CrimsonCowboy]

Can't help but to think the future revenues from the new stadium are going to help out when it opens.

[Heyward]

Freddie Freeman ‏@FreddieFreeman5 1h
#BravesCountry! Thank you for all the love and support! So excited to be with the best fans for the next 8 years! #HugLife

[The Chosen One]

My only fear is Freddie tears a groin or hamstring doing one of his trademark stretches.

[Dalyn]

My only fear is Freddie tears a groin or hamstring doing one of his trademark stretches.

Or gets stuck somewhere and Chipper isn't there to save him.

[zitothebrave]

8/135 is a market value deal. Assume he makes about 25M or so in arb (may not be that high but just assuming say 5/8/12) that makes him 5/110 or so which is about market, Howard signed a 5/125 but had an MVP and big homer stats.

[thewupk]

8/135 is a market value deal. Assume he makes about 25M or so in arb (may not be that high but just assuming say 5/8/12) that makes him 5/110 or so which is about market, Howard signed a 5/125 but had an MVP and big homer stats.

Pretty much. However the one thing to keep in mind is that would be market value in 2014. If he were allowed to hit FA in the 2016/2017 off-season then the market value is going to be much higher. Add in the fact we are paying him through his prime and not after it like a lot of the other bigger deals for 1B then I consider this a win.

[cajunrevenge]

Too soon to start the Freeman for MVP bandwagon?

[KB21]

Is that a possibility? I got the feeling we were locked forever.

A buyout would have to be negotiated, and considering that Fox makes a ton of money off the Braves and has a sweet deal that essentially robs the Braves, don't expect them to just settle for a low buyout.

[Mrs. Meta]

I will become re-energized as a Braves fan if we can lock up Freeman on a long term deal.

Freeman > Kaepernick

[Mrs. Meta]

My only fear is Freddie tears a groin or hamstring doing one of his trademark stretches.

The only thing he will be stretching is his wife.

[zitothebrave]

Pretty much. However the one thing to keep in mind is that would be market value in 2014. If he were allowed to hit FA in the 2016/2017 off-season then the market value is going to be much higher. Add in the fact we are paying him through his prime and not after it like a lot of the other bigger deals for 1B then I consider this a win.

I consider it a win as well. Sure it could bit us in the ass as any contract can but he's signed with minimal normal risk.

[Mrs. Meta]

Can't help but to think the future revenues from the new stadium are going to help out when it opens.

Just imagine this: Everywhere.

[Carp]

I'm hopin this is a dominoe effect. Maybe Simmons and Heyward will see this as a sign of things to come and the new stadium as well. All positive signs going forward.

[nsacpi]

8/135 is a market value deal. Assume he makes about 25M or so in arb (may not be that high but just assuming say 5/8/12) that makes him 5/110 or so which is about market, Howard signed a 5/125 but had an MVP and big homer stats.

With the important difference that the last guaranteed year of Howard's deal is his age 36 season, whereas Freeman's takes him through his age 31 season. Any deal has to be judged on the basis of future expected performance and the age difference is very important in that regard.

It is also worth noting that Howard signed his deal almost two full years before his prior deal was due to expire. So it had some of the risk/security tradeoffs of the kind of deals that players in their pre-free agency years agree to.

It is hard not to conclude that the Freeman contract is quite a bit more team-friendly than the one the Phillies gave to Howard.

A lot of the big contracts handed out in recent years are very long and cover a good chunk of the age 35-40 years of their careers. In effect the club holds down the AAV by being willing to include those declining years. They subsidize the payments in the prime years by overpaying in the declining years. Borrowing from the future for the present. None of those elements are involved in the Freeman deal since it ends with his age 31 season. That is a very big difference that needs to be taken into account when comparing with the contracts of Votto, Howard, Pujols, Fielder, Teixeira, Cano, etc. And there is no opt out clause either as with recent deals with Kershaw and Tanaka, which tilts things in favor of the player.

The fact that we're seeing mid and lower market teams be able to lock up players like Freeman, McCutchen and Goldschmidt is very good for the game. It is one of the reasons why even a very deep-pocketed team like the Yankees is struggling to compete. Not having a decent farm system is turning out to be a liability that even very deep pockets can't completely overcome.

[zitothebrave]

With the important difference that the last guaranteed year of Howard's deal is his age 36 season, whereas Freeman's takes him through his age 31 season.

It is also worth noting that Howard signed his deal almost two full years before his prior deal was due to expire. So it had some of the risk/security tradeoffs of the kind of deals that players in their pre-free agency years agree to.

It is hard not to conclude that the Freeman contract is quite a bit more team-friendly than the one the Phillies gave to Howard.

Well Howard's extension was signed inwhat was the equivalent of his last season of arb.

But he had the ROY and MVP. Which Freddie doesn't.

I'm not complaining about the Freddie deal, I love it. But it's not a bargain deal, it's a great signing because of his youth, but it's not like we Evan Longoria'd him.

[weso1]

Well, I'm really happy with this. I just wanted at least one young player signed to a long term contract. I personally think Freeman is the least risky of all the young guys, so to me it's hard to complain that he was the one Wren chose. We have him through the entirety of his prime and to me that's a great thing. He's a marketable player and should provide us with consistent offense hopefully throughout his contract.