December 28th, 2021 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka During a normal baseball offseason, sportswriters often struggle to come up with meaningful ‘content’ (as it is called) on a daily – or even weekly – basis for their respective news agencies, websites, and blog sites.
This is not a normal baseball offseason.
As our National Pastime prepares to enter the second month of MLB’s lockout, that struggle is compounded. I mean, you can only look at that photograph of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB Players Association union chief Tony Clark so many times, right?
(Image courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors)
The result of this struggle is that content can oftentimes be dull – or at least less interesting – than content we might read during a normal baseball offseason. As such, sportswriters must call upon their creativity to come up with daily – or even weekly – content that will hopefully at least be looked at by their loyal readers.
On Monday, (very) popular MLB Trade Rumors came up with such content that successfully grabbed the attention of many baseball fans, including and especially Dodgers fans, with this post on Twitter:
(Click on image to view article)
As the tweet implies, the article (authored by MLBTR staff writer Tim Dierkes) suggests – or at least hints – that 32-year-old (now) free-agent first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was born in Villa Park, CA a short 36 miles from Dodger Stadium, appears to be on the radar of Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman.
What’s the big deal, you ask?
The big deal is that Freeman, who was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of the 2007 Draft out of El Modena High School in Orange, CA, is a five-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger, a Gold Glove winner, a World Series Champion, the 2020 National League MVP, and owns a career .295/.384/.509/.895 slash line with 271 home runs and 941 RBI over his 12 major league seasons, all with the Braves.
That’s the big deal.
In his piece, Dierkes quotes USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (subscription required) as saying:
“Free agent Freddie Freeman was on the mind of every team seeking a first baseman, with Freeman rejecting Atlanta’s five-year, $135 million offer, and seeking closer to a six-year, $200 million deal. Yet, you couldn’t find a soul who believes Freeman won’t be returning to Atlanta.”
He also cites MLB Network’s Jon Heyman as saying:
“Last heard 6th year was still at issue in Freeman/Braves talks but situation is fluid and they’ve still got to be considered the favorite.”
Heyman added that the Dodgers, Yankees, and Blue Jays are “trying to pry” Freeman away from the Braves, although even those clubs find it unlikely.
Dierkes adds:
“Andrew Friedman has been in charge for seven years now, and he’s given out four-plus years to another team’s free agent two times: four years to Brandon McCarthy in 2014, and four years to AJ Pollock in 2019. Under Friedman, the club did go to four years to retain Justin Turner and Chris Taylor and five to keep Kenley Jansen in free agency. They also notably did a 12-year extension with Mookie Betts before he played a regular season game with the team. But six years to Freeman along with the forfeiture of the Dodgers’ second and fifth round draft picks? I just don’t see it. Signing Freeman would also require Max Muncy to spend more time at second or third base, but the addition of an NL DH could alleviate a potential logjam.”
How’s that for some offseason content?
Play Ball!
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Posted in 
I can’t see Friedman giving up those draft picks. Freddie Freeman would be a good fit but starting pitching is priority one. Plus we have no idea what the luxury tax threshold will be, nor the status of Trevor Bauer. There are just too many question marks to risk doling out another big money contract that on the back end will cost the club big time.
I read recently that several people ‘in the know’ (as they say) expect Bauer to pitch again; perhaps this season. I mean, the Dodgers are paying him a TON of money whether he pitches or not, so why not.
This certainly doesn’t mean that he will be warmly received by baseball fans. In fact, I expect that he will be (seriously) booed every time he sets foot on ANY baseball field, let alone Dodger Stadium.
As for Freeman, I think the six-year thing is what will prevent him from ever wearing a Dodgers uniform moreso than the money … but what the hell do I know.
I’m not sure many fans know what signing Freddie would cost us in terms of draft picks, international bonus money and luxury tax implications. He would be a wonderful addition to the team and worth making room for but we need to get much closer to the luxury tax threshold and unless we shed salary via Baur and Price primarily we will suffer in future player drafts.