Signing(s): Matt Olson signs extension with the Braves (8 years, $168 million)

[MMC]

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[Marc the Habs Fan]

Signed him through age 35. AAV seems quite fair. Got 6 FA years out of it.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Woah.

So they got a comparable player in Olson who's younger for longer term and less money than what you would have had to give Freeman? Actually not a bad deal here.

Well played by Atlanta.

 

[Terry Yake]

i get that freeman was the face of the franchise and all that, but olson is younger and better. can't blame them for moving on from freeman when they got an opportunity like this

braves did the right thing

 

[Canes]

I was kinda scared we'd be going through the same thing with Olson as we did with Freddie in 2 years. Really nice work by AA.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Extending him made a lot of sense. Good deal.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Great deal for Atlanta

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Part of being bad and acquiring a ton of prospects is using some of those to make your team better when others fill gaps. This makes a lot more sense than giving Freeman 6-7 years. Their gm did a great job making the right move and not the emotional, popular pr one.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

i get that freeman was the face of the franchise and all that, but olson is younger and better. can't blame them for moving on from freeman when they got an opportunity like this

braves did the right thing

Did have to move some legit pieces to make all this happen, though. I really think Langeliers will be one of the best catchers in the league in another 3-ish years.

 

[Terry Yake]

Did have to move some legit pieces to make all this happen, though. I really think Langeliers will be one of the best catchers in the league in another 3-ish years.

prospects are always a huge question mark

if sacrificing the future means you get back an elite talent and keeping your title window open, you make that move 10 out of 10 times

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

prospects are always a huge question mark

if sacrificing the future means you get back an elite talent and keeping your title window open, you make that move 10 out of 10 times

yeah, while it does happen its not teams getting burned by dealt prospects isn't that common.

I mean, when the Red Sox got Sale, media members in Boston were groaning that they'd regret trading Moncada and Kopech

 

[John Price]

52 hr's this year. Still wondering why A's let him go. "The big mystery"...

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

52 hr's this year. Still wondering why A's let him go. "The big mystery"...

I think the 8/$168m contract maybe had something to do with it considering how cheap the owner is.

 

[Unholy Diver]

52 hr's this year. Still wondering why A's let him go. "The big mystery"...

He wanted something green other than his uniform

 

[Terry Yake]

52 hr's this year. Still wondering why A's let him go. "The big mystery"...

because ownership wanted the team to suck as much as possible to justify the move to vegas

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

because ownership wanted the team to suck as much as possible to justify the move to vegas

Yep...there was a plan

 

[Voight]

Honestly so far the Freeman/Olson swap has worked out beautifully for both teams.

Freeman is still playing at an MVP level, Olson was already a good player bit hes taken a leap forward this year.

I do give Anthopolous credit for pulling that off. Its take some serious cojons to let the face of your franchise leave, especially months after winning the World Series. Didn't let emotions get in the way of what he thinks is best for the team.

 

[yada]

Honestly so far the Freeman/Olson swap has worked out beautifully for both teams.

Freeman is still playing at an MVP level, Olson was already a good player bit hes taken a leap forward this year.

I do give Anthopolous credit for pulling that off. Its take some serious cojons to let the face of your franchise leave, especially months after winning the World Series. Didn't let emotions get in the way of what he thinks is best for the team.

It wasnt emotions, all the praise he gets the braves ownership is still cheap. They will pay a lot of money as long as its under market value.

I dont care about numbers this year and arcias production but the braves easily could have kept swanson. Baseball has no cap so the argument the team couldn't afford is a lie. At least 2 of albies, acuna, fried will not be resigned and will leave as ufa.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Honestly so far the Freeman/Olson swap has worked out beautifully for both teams.

Freeman is still playing at an MVP level, Olson was already a good player bit hes taken a leap forward this year.

I do give Anthopolous credit for pulling that off. Its take some serious cojons to let the face of your franchise leave, especially months after winning the World Series. Didn't let emotions get in the way of what he thinks is best for the team.

Wasn't the story that Freeman's agent royally ****ed him over and if it wasn't for him, Freeman would've stuck around in Atlanta anyway?

I thought AA was hoping to keep him around.

 

[Voight]

Wasn't the story that Freeman's agent royally ****ed him over and if it wasn't for him, Freeman would've stuck around in Atlanta anyway?

I thought AA was hoping to keep him around.

Theres a rumour that they offered a deal at the 11th hour that would've been acceptable to him but his former agent never told him about it and went with the LA offer (probably because it was more lucrative, so higher commission for him).

Tho I think a part of Freeman wanted to go home to SoCal so IMO signing with the Dodgers wasn't the end of the world.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

At least 2 of albies, acuna, fried will not be resigned and will leave as ufa.

Gonna be another 7 years before we find out if Acuna or Albies goes ufa, so settle in.

 

[yada]

Gonna be another 7 years before we find out if Acuna or Albies goes ufa, so settle in.

Contracts end in 27 so thats 4 more years. Sure they can sign them again i just dont think he will.

 

[yada]

Wasn't the story that Freeman's agent royally ****ed him over and if it wasn't for him, Freeman would've stuck around in Atlanta anyway?

I thought AA was hoping to keep him around.

Thats just a rumour. Freemans old agent took a lawsuit against who started that rumour and it got taken back and then his agent dropped the lawsuit.

I dont know if its true or not for sure but i believe that rumour to be false in the way it was speculated.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Contracts end in 27 so thats 4 more years. Sure they can sign them again i just dont think he will.

Oops...you're right. Albies in 27 and Acuna in 28. We'll see, but I'm not worried 4-5 years out.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Contracts end in 27 so thats 4 more years. Sure they can sign them again i just dont think he will.

4-5 years of contract security is a lifetime in sports. Braves window is clearly right now so absolutely no reason to be concerned about what's happening in 4-5 years. If players leave for more money then, so be it. Right now they have Harris, Murphy, Olson, Riley, Albies, Acuna, Strider on great deals for the next 3 to 10 years. That's a pretty insane luxury to have especially when you're looking like the best team in baseball. Deal with the future when it happens.