In a stunning move that came two days after his old team cut him loose, Freddie Freeman agreed to a six-year, $162 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a lucrative landing for the five-time All-Star who had spent his entire 12-year career with the Atlanta Braves.
Freeman and the Dodgers came to terms late Wednesday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet finalized.
Freeman debuted for the Braves as a 20-year-old in 2010 and has been one of baseball’s most consistent sluggers over the past decade. In 2021, Freeman led the Braves to their first World Series title since 1995, hitting .304 with five homers and 11 RBI in 16 postseason games. That came in the final season of an eight-year, $135 million contract Freeman signed two seasons into his career.
The addition of Freeman creates an abundance of dominant bats that will shuffle among multiple positions with the addition of the designated hitter in the National League. Incumbent first baseman Max Muncy will now get most of his at-bats at DH or, perhaps, second base. Muncy has finished in the top 15 in MVP voting three times in four years and also has experience at second base.
A Southern California native, Freeman finished in the top 10 of NL MVP voting six times in the past 11 seasons – winning the award in the shortened 2020 season with a .341 overage, 1.102 OPS, 53 RBI and a big-league best 51 runs…
