Sports

Agent Freeman: Braves cultivate ‘false narrative’


Many people inside and outside the baseball industry were surprised when Freddie Freeman signed with the Dodgers for the final season. The general expectation is that he will re-sign with the Braves, continuing his long career in the organization. However, that was confiscated when Atlanta bought it Matt Olson from house A shortly after the lockdown, and Freeman landed in LA a few days later.

The course of events in the final few days of negotiations has become a subject of controversy, one that resurfaced over the weekend as the emotional Freeman returned to Atlanta. The 2020 NL MVP received the World Series ring and caught up with many former teammates and coaches, and it’s understandable that he’s struggled to articulate that of his time in the Braves organization. what it means to him and his family.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Freeman had fired his longtime sports management company, Excel Sports Management, out of frustration with how the process for his free agent was going. Freeman himself described the problem differently, concessions His representation is a “flexible situation” but has left open the possibility of mending the fence with Excel and expressed a desire to move forward with the Dodgers.

The controversy was rekindled on Wednesday when Fox Sports host Doug Gottlieb tweeted that Casey Close, Excel’s top negotiator, never informed Freeman of the Braves’ final offer. Gottlieb accused Close of “knowing (Freeman) would do the Atlanta deal” but made the unilateral decision to withhold it from his client, ostensibly because he felt he could make an offer in other places.

Close strongly rejects that view, release a statement have content:

“Doug Gottlieb tweeted a completely inaccurate description of our negotiations with the Atlanta Braves on behalf of Freddie Freeman. We are immediately evaluating all legal options to address the reckless disclosure of inaccurate information.”

On Thursday, Close released another statement aimed at the Braves themselves. In a release tweeted first by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Close alleged:

“The Braves have built a narrative about the negotiations, which, to put it bluntly, is false. Part of that false story is the suggestion that I did not announce a contract offer to the Freemans. Just to be clear, we’ve communicated every offer that was made, as well as any communications Excel had with the Braves organization throughout the entire process. “

Close is not targeting anyone specifically in its statement. It’s worth noting, however, that Freeman admitted in late March that he had a three-hour conversation with Atlanta’s president of baseball operations, Alex Anthopoulos “to hear his things” after implied that Anthopoulos and his staff did not specifically arrive during the free process, through Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Freeman consulted more generally on communications with Braves employees this week, telling reporters that he “learned a lot” about his free company “because I talked to him.” the other side,” over Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

Throughout the winter, the relationship between the Braves and the Freeman seemed to be about the matter of the sixth guaranteed year. Atlanta has been reluctant to pass five years on the 32-year-old. Justin Toscano of the Journal-Constitution heard from a source that Freeman’s camp offered the Braves a choice between two offers: $165 million over five years or $175 million over six years. Atlanta has declined to meet those numbers, and according to Toscano, the parties have agreed to move on. (Olney wrote this week that the Braves boosted their final offer at about five years and $140 million.) The Braves acquired Olson two days later; Freeman completed the signing of a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers, but the delay reduced the contract’s net present value to about $149 million.

Whatever brought the Braves and Freeman talks to a standstill, the breakdown involved an ugly altercation between his former team and one of the game’s most influential agents. Excel Sports Management represents dozens of players, including stars like Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Tucker and famous impending free agents Andrew Benintendi and Dansby Swanson. Swanson has stated The Freeman saga won’t have any effect on his choice of agent, as he has no plans to leave Excel before his first trip to the open market.

There’s obviously some level of tension between the agency and the Atlanta organization, but it’s worth noting that both Close and anyone on the Braves argue that there will be negative impacts on negotiations between the team and other Excel clients. That’s why the Braves will be interested in re-signing Swanson, a Georgia-born and six-year starter who is in the midst of the best season of his career.





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