Braves: Chipper Jones was right about Freddie Freeman all along

Chipper Jones was 100 percent right about Freddie Freeman playing with fire in his free agency.

In the wake of Freddie Freeman making his return to Atlanta and then firing his representation, his former Atlanta Braves mentor Chipper Jones could not have been more right about his ill-advised decision in free agency.

Freeman signed a six-year deal worth $162 million to return to his native Southern California and play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Atlanta offered him a five-year deal worth $135 million before the All-Star break. While the Braves have been more willing to increase its payroll of late, Los Angeles was always going to be in a position to outbid Atlanta. It came down to the number of years.

Here is what Jones said on 680 The Fan shortly after Freeman chose the Dodgers in free agency.

"“I do not agree with the way that this was handled on Freddie’s side,” said Jones to 680 The Fan after Freeman signed with the Dodgers in his free agency. “If you want to play in Atlanta, you play in Atlanta. You maybe take a little less to be happy and play in a place that is comfortable for you. The second that Freddie told me that he rejected the 5 for $135 [million] after the All-Star break, I told him, ‘You’re playing a very dangerous game. You go out on the free-agent market, you get courted by all the pretty girls that are on the block, chances are, you’re not gonna come back. If you take your time waiting on that six-year [deal] into January, [Atlanta] has a job to do.'”"

Jones was right in that Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos had a job to do. With Freeman remaining unsigned heading into the lockout, Anthopoulos traded for Lilburn native and former Parkview star Matt Olson in a deal with the Oakland Athletics in March. Upon his arrival in Atlanta, Olson was given an eight-year deal worth $168 million. He is four years younger than Freeman.

How Freeman reacted to being back in Atlanta for the first time since he left spoke volumes.

Chipper Jones was right about Freddie Freeman’s MLB free agency disaster

Jones was going to be a Hall of Famer regardless of if he played his entire career in a Braves uniform or not. He is one of the greatest switch-hitters and third basemen in baseball history. Jones was a perennial All-Star, a Silver Slugger, won a batting title, an NL MVP and a World Series. He did everything but win a Gold Glove, but he may not have gotten in first ballot had he ever left.

This is kind of where it lands with Freeman. Had he stayed with the Braves, his No. 5 jersey gets retired in the season immediately after he hung up the spikes. Like Jones, Freeman may not get to 500 career home runs or 3,000 career hits. But Jones getting very close with both helped get him into Cooperstown on the first try. Freeman no longer has that luxury now wearing Dodger blue.

Ultimately, Freeman had the chance to be his generation’s version of Jones in Atlanta and decided that was not good enough for him. Jones is not without his faults, but he will always have the luxury of being a goodwill ambassador for Braves Country. Yes, Atlanta will celebrate the day Freeman gets into the hall of fame, but it is not going to feel the same as it did with Jones in 2018.

Regardless of if Freeman truly regrets leaving Atlanta, don’t say Jones didn’t try and warn him.