Matt Olson to Braves!

Nice. As enscheff always points out, signing a guy you traded for to a long term contract makes the trade much better.

I am literally in shock.

The extension doesn't make the trade any better, but the contract might be a good deal. Let's break it down...

Olson was going to earn ~$30M in 2022 and 2023. He will now earn 2/36 over his age 28 and 29 seasons.

The Braves also got 6 FAs seasons from 2024-2029 covering his age 30-35 seasons for 6/132.

This is basically the hometown discount Freeman contract. Not a huge fan of extending a 1B into his 30s, but I think emotion has played into it a bit and the $22M rate is palatable.
 
I am literally in shock.

The extension doesn't make the trade any better, but the contract might be a good deal. Let's break it down...

Olson was going to earn ~$30M in 2022 and 2023. He will now earn 2/36 over his age 28 and 29 seasons.

The Braves also got 6 FAs seasons from 2024-2029 covering his age 30-35 seasons for 6/132.

This is basically the hometown discount Freeman contract. Not a huge fan of extending a 1B into his 30s, but I think emotion has played into it a bit and the $22M rate is palatable.

But the ageing curve won't come into play as much on this which is why I think AA did this. Surprised we committed long term to a position that could be resolved on a 2-3 year rotating basis but the Braves have lots of money right now and I think this is another indicator of that.
 
With how much we traded to get Olson we needed to have him for more than 2 years and it got done at a record speed. I’m completely shocked but happy too.
 
But the ageing curve won't come into play as much on this which is why I think AA did this. Surprised we committed long term to a position that could be resolved on a 2-3 year rotating basis but the Braves have lots of money right now and I think this is another indicator of that.

Committing to Olson through age 35 at $22M vs committing to Freeman through age 37 at $30M is just different enough that one makes sense while the other is a bad deal.
 
I wonder if the 168 million given to Olson was the final contract value offered to Freeman?

I like the extension. Yes it has risk but so did signing Freeman.

AA is the one of the top 3 GM's in the game. The only weakness the team has right now is the farm system. If he can improve the minors over the next few years he will be the best GM in baseball.
 
Every time someone says "this trade only makes sense if we can extend him", I say it rarely happens and even if it does it doesn't make the trade any better.

This time might be the exception. If the trade was made with the understanding Olson would give a discount on an extension, then the extension DID make the trade target more valuable.
 
I wonder if the 168 million given to Olson was the final contract value offered to Freeman?

I like the extension. Yes it has risk but so did signing Freeman.

AA is the one of the top 3 GM's in the game. The only weakness the team has right now is the farm system. If he can improve the minors over the next few years he will be the best GM in baseball.

And I'm totally willing to give AA a pass on the farm as the Braves have been suffering from the Coppy sanctions. Getting the pipeline of international talent flowing again should really help.
 
Yep. And regardless, the team is in a better place now than they were prior to the trade. AA is a stud. This is so much better than buying high on Freeman's decline years would have been.
 
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