Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers took home the Most Valuable Player Award for his performance in the 2024 World Series. Atlanta Braves fans on the social media platform X were happy for Freeman, but many of them were posting comments blaming Braves’ general manager Alex Anthopoulos for “letting Freeman walk.” And there were even those who used Freeman’s success as a reason to criticize Matt Olson, the Braves current first baseman. I don’t understand either of these reactions.  

First of all, Freeman chose to leave the Braves. He became a free agent after the Braves won the World Series in 2021, and he signed a six-year deal with the Dodgers for $162 million. Braves fans were hopeful Freeman would rejoin the team with a long-term contract and perhaps finish his career in Atlanta. The Braves and Freeman apparently could not agree on the length of a contract. The Braves offered a five-year deal worth $140 million, but Freeman wanted a sixth year. The Dodgers gave him the extra year, and he left. That’s the way free agency works. Freeman and his agent got the contract they wanted. More power to them. 

Chipper Jones has been posting on X reminding fans of how Freeman’s departure went down. Jones, who was privy to the negotiations, said that Freeman’s agent told Anthopoulos that he had one hour to come across with either a six-year contract worth $175 million or a five-year deal worth $165 million. Jones said he warned Freeman that if his agent issued such an ultimatum, the Braves would not respond, and his days in Atlanta would come to an end. 

Faced with losing their first baseman, the Braves acquired Olson, the best available option, from the Oakland Athletics. Since coming to Atlanta, Olson has been in the lineup for every single game the Braves have played. In his first season in Atlanta, he hit 34 home runs with 103 runs batted in; he followed that up with 54 homers and 139 RBIs in 2023. In what many fans are calling an “off year,” Olson hit 29 home runs with 98 RBIs this season. And while Freeman is a fine defensive first baseman, Olson is even better. 

The departure of Freeman and the details surrounding it are cold reminders that baseball is, at its most basic, a business. This should come as no surprise to anyone; after all, back in 1920 the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. 

When I first started following baseball as a seven-year-old kid, I was not a big fan of trades; I still find them to be at least a bit dehumanizing. In late December of 1966 the Braves acquired third baseman Clete Boyer in a trade with the New York Yankees. At the time I wondered why they made the trade since they had Ed Mathews. 

A couple of days after the Boyer deal, the Braves traded Mathews to the Houston Astros for a dead-armed pitcher and a low-contact outfielder. Mathews was past his prime, but he had 493 home runs, and I thought the Braves should have allowed him to hit his 500th homer in a Braves’ uniform.

Even as a third-grader I was able to be happy about Boyer having a good year at the plate in his first season as a Brave, while also being glad that Mathews hit his 500th home run on July 14, 1967.

No matter how Olson has performed, criticizing him because he took Freeman’s place makes no sense. Why can’t every Braves fan be happy for Freddie Freeman without demonizing Matt Olson?