Freeman close to extension

[Brent Maguire]

@jonmorosi: Freddie Freeman’s extension with Braves will be for huge dollars. One source told me it is in $100 million range. @FOXSports1

[Angel Oracle]

This will be Freeman's 4th season.

Yet another precursor to Trout getting his long term deal done after 2014?

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

1:14pm: One source tells Morosi that Freeman's deal could be worth as much as $125MM over eight years (Twitter link).

[m0nkey]

Run, goddamit!

[m0nkey]

Freemans a solid young player, but that seems like a lot of money for him. Good for freddie

[wopphil]

Probably good for the Angels too.  While of course Trout is in another league than Freeman, Freeman is a great young player.  If Freeman is worth 8/125, and Posey 9/167, I have to believe a fair deal for Trout would be somewhere in the range of 8-10 years and 160-230 mil.   

[Brent Maguire]

I still think Freeman is more of a true talent .280/.350/.475 type of bat than what he was last year.

His BABIP was absurd and if that comes crashing down, his average will go down with it.

[Hollyw00d]

Not a bad deal for both sides

[SoWhat]

Freeman is only 24 and hasn't even reached his prime yet, he's only going to get better. I think this is a good deal for both sides

[gotbeer]

Surprised the Braves are going to take a chance like that.  8/$125 for a guy that had a breakout season.  You look at his minor league numbers, and he never hit over .900 when he had a lot of playing time.  This was his first year in arbitration, $5.75 vs $4.5 million.  

 

And especially for a team like the Braves.  They don't have the money flexibility like other teams.  Committing this much, especially since it's going to be backloaded.  IMO, I would have waited to see if 2013 was a fluke or not first before committing so much.

[Tank]

i have to admit, i have no idea who freeman is. i thought that was the name of their manager and that this is an absurd amount to pay for him.

 

time to hit the googles.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Tank

[bloodbrother]

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Make 'em say uhhhhhhhhhh

[Mark68]

Surprised the Braves are going to take a chance like that.  8/$125 for a guy that had a breakout season.  You look at his minor league numbers, and he never hit over .900 when he had a lot of playing time.  This was his first year in arbitration, $5.75 vs $4.5 million.  

 

And especially for a team like the Braves.  They don't have the money flexibility like other teams.  Committing this much, especially since it's going to be backloaded.  IMO, I would have waited to see if 2013 was a fluke or not first before committing so much.

The Braves shot themselves in the foot by agreeing to their TV deal before many of the other deals were struck, so they're not getting much from theirs.

 

They have a lot of young talent that are/will soon be arbitration eligible, so they have to choose which ones they want to keep. This shows they have faith that Freeman will provide enough value to make this deal work.

[Docwaukee]

nice move for them.  his minor league ops was lower because of lesser slg% but he has found 20-25hr power that should continue.  Agree he's unlikely to hit .320 on a regular basis, but he seems like the type of hitter whose bb rates will continue to go up.  The braves also don't seem to have anyone nearly ready at 1b or anyone in the system at all for that matter.  

[ettin]

Can't remember who on Twitter said it but over the last three seasons Freeman has the third highest Line Drive rate. It has been statistically proven that higher line drive rates lead to generally higher BABIP's and increased production (vs. grounders and flyballs which both are not nearly as good for a player's BABIP).

Notably on that list I saw Howie Kendrick at #10 (the line drive list). Votto and James Loney were #1 and #2 respectively.... now that I keep talking about it I went and recreated it: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=1500&type=2&season=2013&month=0&season1=2011&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=5,d

[Mudville]

Looks like the kid from Trouble With The Curve. Good luck Atlanta and hope you signed the peanut vendor as well.

[jshep]

Loved him in "The Goonies"

[NrM]

Probably good for the Angels too.  While of course Trout is in another league than Freeman, Freeman is a great young player.  If Freeman is worth 8/125, and Posey 9/167, I have to believe a fair deal for Trout would be somewhere in the range of 8-10 years and 160-230 mil.   

 

You're ****ing kidding youself if you think trout is only going to get 160-230

 

 

Freeman definitely got too much. He's had one good season.

At the same time, he'll only be making around 15 million a year, which isn't bad.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Poozy

[Mark68]

You're ****ing kidding youself if you think trout is only going to get 160-230

 

 

Freeman definitely got too much. He's had one good season.

At the same time, he'll only be making around 15 million a year, which isn't bad.

One good season? He had one GREAT season preceded by two good seasons-his first two in the majors, with 1.7 & 2.3 WAR, respectively.

 

In three full years, he has produced 9.4 WAR. Don't let the otherworldliness of Trout redefine what is considered "good" or "great".

[Stradling]

You're ****ing kidding youself if you think trout is only going to get 160-230

Freeman definitely got too much. He's had one good season.

At the same time, he'll only be making around 15 million a year, which isn't bad.

Poozy, if the Angels offered him 8 or 9 years and $230 million he would accept that deal. That would be almost $29 million a season while buying out his arb years. No agent would let him pass up the security of that deal. He would also still be young enough to get another $200 million deal at age 31.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I like freemans bat. Not sure how legit last year was, but he can hit for sure.

I think its gonna come back to hurt them though.

[NrM]

Poozy, if the Angels offered him 8 or 9 years and $230 million he would accept that deal. That would be almost $29 million a season while buying out his arb years. No agent would let him pass up the security of that deal. He would also still be young enough to get another $200 million deal at age 31.

 

 

230 million is probably the lowest he'd be willing to accept.

Remember, Ellsbury just signed for 153 million and Cano signed for 240.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Poozy

[Brent Maguire]

Now that I've had time to think about it, this deal isn't so bad. It may be a slight overpay but Freeman is super young still and has developed some unexpectedly good power.

I'll be curious to see how they can possibly extend their other players. My guess is they'll have to trade Kimbrel or Upton at some point to get some sort of return instead of just letting them walk.

[NrM]

Now that I've had time to think about it, this deal isn't so bad. It may be a slight overpay but Freeman is super young still and has developed some unexpectedly good power.

I'll be curious to see how they can possibly extend their other players. My guess is they'll have to trade Kimbrel or Upton at some point to get some sort of return instead of just letting them walk.

Don't forget about Heyward, who's likely to get a 100+ million.