Atlanta Braves fans were incredibly respectful in Freddie Freeman's return to Truist Park as an All-Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Braves fans gave him multiple standing ovations, including when Dave Roberts removed him from the game during live play. This in spite of the fact that Freeman, a Braves franchise icon, left for their National League rival. Atlanta deserved better then, and they sure shouldn't have their faces rubbed in Dodgers propaganda courtesy of MLB Network just days after being forced to watch Freeman thrive in the midsummer classic for a different team.
Freeman did not want to live Atlanta in the moment. He's on the record as saying as much, and his intial return to Truist Park as a member of the Dodgers was an emotional one – so much so in fact that Clayton Kershaw pulled him aside to make sure he was fully committed to his new organization. The main reason Freeman didn't sign an extension with the Braves had little to do with the player himself, but an ambitious agent who is no longer connected to the Dodgers star.
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Freddie Freeman documentary released at worst time for Braves fans
It all worked out in the end for Freeman, of course. He won a World Series just last season and hit a jaw-dropping home run to win Game 1. It has not all worked out for the Braves, though. Sure, Atlanta replaced Freeman with former A's first baseman Matt Olson, who is from Georgia. Olson is fantastic, but he is not Freeman, a future Hall of Famer who now has to face the question of which cap he'll wear when he's enshrined in Cooperstown.
None of this is to suggest that Freeman's saga doesn't deserve a documentary – of course it does. The timing of said drop, though, couldn't be worse for Braves fans who just want to move on with the second half of their season.
Braves haven't been the same since Freddie Freeman left
Atlanta hasn't made the World Series since Freeman left, and despite featuring a number of impressive stars like Ronald Acuña Jr., Olson, Sean Murphy, Chris Sale, Spencer Strider and more, are likely to miss the postseason altogether in 2025. Last year, they lost in the Wild Card round. This is a depreciating asset.
Who knows? If the Braves had kept Freeman, it might not have changed anything. Maybe Alex Anthopoulos was right in not handing Freeman that sort of long-term deal well into his late-30's. For now, though, one can't help but look at that decision through a short-term lens. The Braves are losing, and the last thing fans want to do is relive that trauma when there are no games to distract them.