THE HANGOVER

Evan Davis

During what was considered one of the most crazy offseasons due to all the star power available, Freddie Freeman was one of the best free agents out there. When the Braves won the World Series by defeating the Houston Astros, me along with numerous others figured that Freeman would resign with Atlanta, the team he had been with for 15 years.

When the Braves made a shocking blockbuster deal by trading for Gold Glove winning and All Star first baseman, Matt Olson, it became very evident that Freeman’s time in Atlanta was coming to a close.

In come the Dodgers, who lost their All Star and World Series MVP, Corey Seager, on a massive free agent signing deal with the Texas Rangers. The Dodgers were anxious to immediately replace Seager’s left handed bat with a new one, and once Freeman truly became available, they had to jump on the opportunity.

Like every other team out there, the Dodgers were all in on signing Freddie Freeman, and they successfully completed the mission. About a week after the Matt Olson trade, Freddie Freeman decided to head back home to Los Angeles and ink a 6 year/$162 million deal with the Dodgers that would pay him about $27 million per year.

Not only did the Dodgers get a left handed bat, they got one of the best leaders in the game. With the signing of Freeman, the Dodgers had a “Big 3” at the top of their lineup with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Trea Turner.

Now did the Braves make a HUGE mistake by not resigning Freeman in the offseason? So far this season, the Atlanta Braves are 28-27, and fellow Georgia native Matt Olson is batting .255 with 7 home runs and 28 RBIs. On the flip side, the Dodgers are a NL best 35-19, with Freeman hitting .294 to go along with 4 HRs and 30 RBIs. Freeman is on pace for 100 RBIs this season, with Olson being on pace for 82.

Not only did Atlanta lose a huge piece of their offense, they lost their team captain. Until the Braves figure out that new voice in the locker room, they will continue to underperform because it is evident there isn’t that leader who has gained the respect of the entire clubhouse. In my opinion, it should be Ronald Acuna Jr., who recently returned from injury.

He needs to put the big boy pants on, demand the respect of the clubhouse, and be candid when it’s appropriate. We’ve seen instances like this in other sports, for example hockey when the San Jose Sharks lost their captain in free agency and the team slowly collapsed. A similar situation, where we really don’t know who the captain is of the Atlanta Braves. We might be seeing that same trend with the Braves if some sort of change isn’t made immediately.

This could be the Dodgers fan bias in me, but I do believe if the Braves continue to have a very underwhelming season like they are having right now, I would fire Alex Anthopoulos after the season because it was his decision to take Matt Olson over Freddie Freeman. I get it was only a year but baseball is 162 games, unlike other sport leagues where it’s 82 games, so that’s why it’s a short leash.