As if Dodger fans didn’t already have enough to lose sleep over, MLB Trade Rumors reported on Tuesday morning that the Boston Red Sox have thrown their hat into the Freddie Freeman ring, joining the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Tampa Bay Rays, who were actually already in on the highly-sought-after 32-year-old Villa Park, CA native and second-round draft pick in 2007 by the Atlanta Braves out of El Modena High School in Orange, CA prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This from MLB Network‘s Jon Heyman on Twitter early Tuesday morning:
As MLBTR‘s Steve Adams notes, although the Rays remain in on Freeman, their pre-pandemic interest was for a short-term/(presumably) high-dollar deal, not the long-term/high-dollar offers reportedly made by the Dodgers, Yankees, and Blue Jays; the latter of whom is considered a serious threat to land the career .295-hitting first baseman by the other two.
As Adams also notes, if the Red Sox do indeed land the Southern California native, they would blow right through the recently-approved $210 million to $230 million luxury tax agreed to last week in the new MLB/MLB Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement. In fact, per Adams, the BoSox are already at the $209 million mark without Freeman.
All of this said, with teams already in their respective Spring Training camps and with Spring Training games beginning this week and the regular season on March 31, the Freeman sweepstakes winner announcement could come at any moment.
…an announcement that the Dodger faithful hopes favors their beloved team.
Play Ball!
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@Dodgers https://t.co/WOAZ2G91yd
@Dodgers Yikes. If he goes to Boston can we get Hernandez back at least?
A reasonable request, I’d say.