Trades/acquisitions

[Enscheff]

One thing everyone continues to miss in this discussion...

Freddie has constantly said that playing his ENTIRE career wearing one uniform is extremely important to him - much like it was to Chipper. There's never been the first hint that he's interested in spending two months somewhere else in an effort to make the team better in 2022. He doesn't appear to give two *hits whether that fits anybody's idea of what's "logical" or not, and he's consistently maintained that he's willing to give the Braves some level of hometown discount to stay if management wants him here. That's the human side of him, and apparently he doesn't give two *hits whether that "adds up" on someone's spreadsheet.

Those are the facts, like them or not. I've got a pretty good feeling that if you trade him to a contender "so he gets a chance to win a ring", there's a *amn good chance he tells his reps not to bother returning the call if they want to bring him back this winter. Logic be *amned that's just his personality, and he's EXACTLY the type of person that would take being traded away personally enough to hold that sort of grudge. He's already made more money than the next 2-3 generations of his family can spend and he's going to get piles more wherever he winds up - he offered you the chance to offer a much smaller pile, and you said "no thanks".

All of this has been said by/about countless soon-to-be free agents over the last 50 years. It very rarely works out that way because players almost always follow the dollars despite everything they say publicly. Does anyone think Freeman "loves" Atlanta more than every other FA who said the exact same thing about whatever city they are currently playing? I bet we can find very similar quotes from Mac.

I find it impossible to believe Freeman wouldn't be signed already if his agent told AA he was willing to take a series of 2-3 year extensions at a discount rate like Chipper did. The fact that hasn't happened is much more telling about his intentions than anything Freeman says to the public.