ATLANTA — It was an emotional three days for former Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and Atlanta Braves fans after the Dodgers visited for a three-game series this past weekend.
It was Freeman's first time playing at Truist Park since he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of this year.
What followed an emotional few days was a surprising development, according to multiple reports, that Freddie Freeman dropped his management team that worked to negotiate for Freeman this offseason.
Freeman gave a statement to MLB.com but didn't outright confirm he dropped his agency, Excel Management.
"Last weekend in Atlanta was a very emotional time for me and my family," Freeman told MLB.com. "I am working through some issues with my longtime agents at Excel. My representation remains a fluid situation and I will update if needed."
According to ESPN, the Braves made a 5-year, $135 million offer to Casey Close, the lead agent for Excel working Freeman's deal. Close contacted Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos after the lockout with two proposals on behalf of Freeman significantly higher than that $135 million offer, giving the team an hour to respond. The Braves bumped their offer to $140 million, but it wasn't in the ballpark of Close's proposals.
That's when Anthopoulos went out and traded for first baseman Matt Olson, thinking Close's deadline passing meant Freeman was about to sign with another team. After the Olson trade, Freeman would eventually sign with the Dodgers for six years and $162 million.
ESPN reported that during Freeman's return to Atlanta, he indicated to some of his former teammates that he was going to drop his agency due to frustration from March.
"This past weekend with Freddie Freeman was a complete emotional dump, getting everything out of him...I think the emotional of all of it got to Freddie," Jon Chuckery said on his Locked On Sports Atlanta podcast.
"Freddie Freeman I think fully and truly believes he should still be an Atlanta Brave...Chipper Jones gave him the advice, telling him to take control of these things back then. And I get all that. But Freddie has never been a free agent, he's never had to be on the open market."
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Chuckery said Excel backed Anthopoulos into a corner that's what led to obtaining Matt Olson. But still, he thinks firing his agency right after playing in Atlanta was a little dramatic.
"To go out a few days later after you leave here and you go out and fire your management team, the optics of this are starting to look a little much," Chuckery said. "This would have been one thing if in April he fired his agent or November."
Freeman, 32, is batting .306 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs so far this season with the Dodgers.
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