Chipper Jones Said the Braves' Offers to Freddie Freeman 'Didn't Make Him Happy' and Doesn't Sound Optimistic About Him Returning
92.9 The Game — When asked if Freeman is upset with the Braves over the contract situation.
“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to Freddie in quite some time, but I’m sure he’s probably a little frustrated this wasn’t done in Spring Training last year," Jones said. "But the fact of the matter is we didn’t have any fans in the stands. We’ve got owners that didn’t know where revenue was going to be at the end of the year and maybe held out a little bit. The bottom line is, Freddie I believe before it’s all said and done will be playing where he wants to play. I know he’s a West Coast guy. I know he has a home here in Atlanta. But Freddie, if he wants to play for the Atlanta Braves, will be playing for the Atlanta Braves. I’ll leave it at that.”
Jones talked about Freeman getting offers from other teams.
“The Braves have made some offers, didn’t make him happy," Jones said. "He’s being courted by some of the prettiest girls on the block right now, he’s gonna listen to them. I hope that he thinks about his legacy here in Atlanta and they can come to some sort of an agreement to bring him back because I’d love nothing more than for his number to go right in there in between Dale Murphy and Bobby Cox. In between the 3 and the 6, a couple down from the number 10 because we’ve talked about it often and I think it would be a shame if it didn’t happen.”
Anytime someone says, "I'll leave it at that," about anything, that's a pretty good indication that whatever they're saying isn't exactly positive.
Chipper and Freddie have been best friends for a very long time. Nothing Chipper said there is really breaking news, but it does carry some weight coming from him — both as Freddie's friend and a team employee.
I really haven't understood the overwhelming sentiment from Braves fans that Freeman can be penciled in at first base in 2022. He clearly didn't get an offer he liked from the Braves and finally won a World Series in Atlanta. What is keeping him there if he gets a better offer elsewhere? I'd be very willing to bet one of the teams in Los Angeles would be more than happy to open up the checkbook for a stupid amount of money — and more importantly years — and allow Freeman to go home to California.
Whenever this lockout ends, I think we'll find out very quickly what Freddie is going to do. I hope he's back in Atlanta, but I'm not exactly encouraged that's going to happen. Alex Anthopoulos has proven he won't overpay on long-term free agent deals and it seems pretty evident at this point he probably isn't making an exception for Freeman.