Freddie Freeman and the Braves can finally move on, if they so choose.
The Freeman-Braves saga is a longstanding one — nearly six months at this point.
Freeman returned to Atlanta, fired his agent and created a story.
Since then, he’s put up some impressive numbers for the Dodgers. He made the NL All-Star team as a reserve, and could be an MVP candidate in the National League. His performance has not suffered after leaving Atlanta, which is an important footnote to this story.
However, the two sides have been tied together for much of this season, and for good reason.
This week, Doug Gottlieb retracted a report in which he alleged Freeman’s former agent, Casey Close, misled the Dodgers first baseman about his offers from Atlanta.
“I prematurely reported on these events and simply got it wrong.”
Doug Gottlieb, who is being sued by agent Casey Close for his tweet about the Freddie Freeman negotiations, says “the conduct I alleged did not occur and there is no credible basis for stating that it did.” https://t.co/L6KCbMRq4E
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 7, 2022
Said report was a major influence in a narrative which painted Close as the bad guy, when that wasn’t the case. Close, per Gottlieb himself, did not influence Freeman to leave the Braves.
Can Braves, Freddie Freeman finally move on?
Freeman teared up in his first visit back to Atlanta. Since then, he’s become acclimated with the Dodgers clubhouse.
Even Clayton Kershaw expressed concern after Freeman’s visit back to the city he called home for much of his career thus far. But the star first baseman took that criticism in stride, and as time has gone by, has made more of an impression on Los Angeles.
Heck, he did sign on to be a Dodger for more than a half-decade, after all. Freeman himself is from the area, so by no means is southern California new to him. But his departure from Atlanta was an emotional one, and murky.
Gottlieb was nearly sued for libel by Close, as his premature reporting impacted his living. Freeman and Close parted ways for different reasons entirely, and it has to leave some Braves fans wondering if an Atlanta exit was truly necessary.
However, at least for now. the two sides can move past this spat. It’s over.
