After being ‘blindsided’ by Braves, Freddie Freeman happy to be back home with Dodgers

For many of his first day as a Dodger, a smile was planted on Freddie Freeman’s face.

Recent off finalizing his six-year, $162 million contract with the staff, Freeman arrived to the staff’s spring coaching advanced Friday early within the morning, sporting a dapper black swimsuit and a glove as he walked into the power.

He placed on Dodger blue for the primary time within the afternoon, taking the sphere in staff athletic put on for a exercise to a refrain of cheers from a whole lot of followers.

Then, throughout an introductory press convention overlooking the stadium at Camelback Ranch, Freeman slipped into his new uniform, exhibiting off the newly sewn No. 5 displayed throughout the again.

“I simply needed to get right here and get going,” Freeman mentioned. “Everybody simply welcomed me with open arms.”

The one time Freeman’s expression modified Friday was when the topic of his previous staff got here up. The previous MVP, in spite of everything, as soon as anticipated to spend his total profession with the Atlanta Braves. And simply days faraway from his official goodbye to the membership, he was nonetheless struggling to make sense of the separation.

“I believed I used to be going to spend my complete profession there,” he mentioned. “However finally generally plans change, and plans did change.”

Freeman’s doubts about returning to the Braves slowly set in through the previous 12 months.

He mentioned the Braves made one formal provide for a contract extension final season on the commerce deadline, then by no means responded to a counterproposal from his representatives.

He mentioned that whereas the Dodgers wooed him closely from the beginning of the offseason, Braves officers solely referred to as him twice, as soon as earlier than the lockout and as soon as after merely to test in.

And he mentioned that, when the Braves traded for Oakland A’s first baseman Matt Olson on Monday — successfully ending Freeman’s time in Atlanta — he had no concept the information was coming.

“To be trustworthy, I used to be blindsided,” mentioned Freeman, who to that time nonetheless believed a return to Atlanta was doable. “I believe each emotion got here throughout. I used to be harm. It’s actually exhausting to place into phrases nonetheless.”

Freeman was additionally requested if he noticed Braves common supervisor Alex Anthopoulos tearing up whereas introducing Olson this week.

“I noticed ‘em,” Freeman mentioned. “Yup. That’s all I’ll say.”

Freeman’s cope with the Dodgers got here collectively quickly after, with Freeman agreeing to contract — which incorporates roughly $57 million of deferred cash to be paid out between 2028 and 2040, in response to an individual with data of the state of affairs not licensed to debate it publicly — on Wednesday, passing a bodily in Los Angeles on Thursday, then jetting out to Arizona to hitch the staff Friday.

“The final week has been somewhat little bit of a whirlwind,” Freeman mentioned. “However I wouldn’t need to be anyplace else proper now.”

Freeman mentioned the prospect to return to Southern California — he’s an Orange County native and his father and grandpa nonetheless dwell within the space — performed a significant component in his choice. He was additionally drawn in by the Dodgers’ pitch, which included Zoom calls with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and supervisor Dave Roberts.

“I believe everybody knew the state of affairs I used to be in and so they have been very upfront and so they cared about the place I used to be coming from and the way lengthy I used to be there,” Freeman mentioned. “They cared about household. I expressed household and profitable. That’s all I care about and that’s what they care about, too.”

Third baseman Justin Turner aided within the pursuit, too.

“His identify popped up on my cellphone fairly a bit all through this complete course of,” Freeman mentioned, laughing.

Added Friedman: “Over time, each time Justin Turner received to first base, he’d have somewhat phrase with him about how good he’d look in Dodger blue”

For Friedman, going after Freeman was a no brainer.

The five-time All-Star has established himself as among the best hitters in baseball over the past decade. He crammed a gap within the Dodgers’ in any other case loaded lineup, giving them one other left-handed slugger to interchange Corey Seager. The staff had simply seen first-hand how tough Freeman is to play towards, too, having misplaced to the Braves in a six-game NL Championship Collection.

“I believe what he does on the sphere is clear to everybody,” Friedman mentioned. “We’ve competed towards them three of the final 4 years within the playoffs and the stress, [even in] the innings earlier than he comes up, the lineup type of orbits round him.”

Now, it’s the Dodgers who will profit, their roster bolstered once more by the arrival of one other one in all baseball’s greatest stars.

“If I used to be going to depart the place I used to be for 15 years,” Freeman mentioned, “coming house and being with this group might be the very best factor.”