ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves have acquired Oakland A’s first baseman Matt Olson in a trade on Monday. It means Freddie Freeman’s time in Atlanta has likely come to an end.
Olson, who grew up in Gwinnett County and went to Parkview High School, made his MLB debut in 2016. He has won two Gold Glove Awards, three Fielding Bible Awards, and was an All-Star in 2021.
Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos got emotional when speaking to reporters about the trade — saying “it’s tough” and that the team had to essentially worry about themselves in making sure they had a solid first baseman. He was not able to speak specifically about Freeman due to MLB rules and players in free agency.
Oakland will receive OF Cristian Pache, C Shea Langeliers, SP Ryan Cusick and SP Joey Estes, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder posted career-best totals in batting average, on-base percentage, home runs (39), RBI (111), runs (101), hits (153) and doubles (35) last season. Twenty-two of his 39 home runs came against left-handed pitchers, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, tied Stan Musial in 1949 for the most such homers by a left-handed hitter in history.
Freeman had been on an 8-year, $135 million deal with the Braves that paid him $22 million in base salary last year.
Freeman’s 12-year career with the Braves includes a wealth of records and achievements that ranks him among the best hitters to ever play for the team.
He was drafted in the second round of the 2007 MLB Draft by Atlanta out of El Modena High School in Southern California, and debuted for the club three years later.
He’s hit 271 home runs while with the Braves, driven in 941 RBIs and collected 1,704 hits in 1,565 games played, batting .295 with a .384 on-base percentage and .509 slugging percentage as a Brave. Last season he hit .300 with 31 homers and 83 RBIs.