Matt Olson deserves better than Braves fans thoughtless Freddie Freeman takes

In the 2021 offseason, the Atlanta Braves made the decision to acquire Matt Olson in a trade with the Oakland Athletics. This move all but ensured that franchise icon Freddie Freeman was going to depart in free agency. Days later, he signed a six-year deal to join the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The decision to let Freeman go was a tough one. He was one of the best players in baseball at the time, and just led the Braves to a World Series win. It felt as if he was destined to play his entire career in Atlanta and head off to Cooperstown with an A on his cap. Unfortunately, that didn't end up happening.

All Freeman has done since joining the Dodgers is do what he's done throughout his 15-year MLB career: rake. He has slashed .314/.399/.520 in his three regular seasons in Los Angeles, while averaging 24 home runs and 99 RBI per season. He has been one of, if not the best first basemen in the game since departing Atlanta.

Not only has Freeman come up big for the Dodgers in the regular season, but he's a big reason why they're up 2-0 in the World Series right now. Freeman hit a walk-off Grand Slam in Game 1 of the Fall Classic, and followed that up with another big home run in Game 2. He's done this despite essentially playing on one leg.

Freeman doing this on the biggest stage in a Dodgers uniform is tough for Braves fans to have to watch, especially while their team had a brutally disappointing season and has to watch the World Series unfold from their couches. Some Atlanta fans have even channeled that frustration into arguing that Freeman should still be a Brave — which, while understandable, completely discounts what Olson has done since the trade.

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Freddie Freeman Braves takes are disrespectful considering what Matt Olson has done

Braves fans should always love Freddie Freeman, but did they really make such a colossal mistake? The fact that the Braves have to watch the Dodgers in the World Series is unfortunate, but it isn't as if it's Olson's fault.

He isn't the on-base threat that Freeman is and strikes out a little more, but Olson has provided more power than Freddie has, launching 54 home runs and 139 RBI in 2023 alone. He also happens to be one of the best defensive first basemen in the game, and hasn't missed a single game since arriving in Atlanta. Amid all of the team's injury woes, especially this season, Olson has been an iron man.

More Braves fans should try to be like this Twitter user. Loving and missing Freddie Freeman makes a whole lot of sense and should be the expectation. He's still a franchise legend! Still, to act as if the Braves haven't been fine without him is just simply not true.

Olson might not be better than Freeman, but he's not far behind. He also happens to be five years younger, with an AAV $6 million cheaper, and with three more years of team control on his contract. The Dodgers are benefitting by having Freeman on their roster, as any team would. The Braves, however, have an elite first baseman in their own right, both now and moving forward.