There’s no use rehashing the offseason of 2022 when the Atlanta Braves bid farewell to Freddie Freeman and subsequently traded for current first baseman Matt Olson.
So far the moves for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Braves have paid off 10-fold. Freeman has since won two World Series titles, including series MVP, while Olson is currently leading the National League MVP race this season.
However, a report Friday morning from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggests that Atlanta was looking at another first baseman that off-season before making the trade for Matt Olson. “The previously unreported twist is this: After Freeman’s agent, Casey Close, informed Atlanta they were out on his client during the post-lockout free-agent frenzy in March 2022, the Braves tried to sign another first baseman before acquiring Olson from the then-Oakland Athletics,” Rosenthal says. “That first baseman, according to people familiar with both the team’s and player’s discussions, was Anthony Rizzo.”
Rosenthal writes that the Braves and Rizzo were never close to signing a deal, as Rizzo ended up signing a 2-year, $32 million deal with the Yankees. The Braves reportedly were more interested in a one-year deal.
Atlanta ended up trading a host of prospects, including catcher Shea Langeliers, to acquire Olson after that.
It’s not often you see player movement of a players the caliber of Olson and Freeman work out for both parties the way it did, however in this case it appeared to work out as well as it possibly could have for both the Braves and Dodgers.
