For Braves fans, Monday should’ve been about welcoming a new franchise cornerstone. Instead, it was about mourning the loss of an old one.
The acquisition for A’s All-Star Matt Olson meant Freddie Freeman was as good as gone from Atlanta, and that notion overshadowed the actual trade that took place. Even Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos appeared to have a hard time swallowing the departure of Freeman, as he choked back tears while holding a press conference announcing Olson’s arrival and said the trade was “the hardest decision he’s had to make” in Atlanta.
Anthopoulos followed up Monday’s trade for Olson by signing his new first baseman to a franchise-record eight-year, $168 million extension Tuesday (topping the previous $135 million extension, given to Freeman in 2014) and in the process signaled that the Braves are moving on, whether or not their fans are ready to. He’s also giving Olson a shot at playing in his hometown nearly as long as his predecessor did—and with a core of teammates brimming with the potential to surpass the Freeman era’s team-wide accomplishments (six playoff appearances, five playoff series victories and one World Series title in 11 seasons).
