[680 The Fan] Is a Freddie Freeman & Braves Reunion on the Horizon
February 4, 2026
[680 The Fan] Is a Freddie Freeman & Braves Reunion on the Horizon
5 comments
The prodigal shortstop returns!
I mean I could see it happening. Returning for a 2-3 year stint at 38 to DH/be a rotational piece at 1B. If he wants to hit the 20 year mark, let him retire as a Brave. The 6 years in between don’t matter to me, Freddie is and always will be a Brave. Plus he’s making like $60m from LA in deferred money after his deal ends, so if he’s still productive at 38 then it’s a no brainer to bring him back on a cheap (but respectable), incentivized deal.
I think a Freddie return has way more to do with if RA returns then anything else. They are both FA the same year and I think a lot of folks, myself included, feel if RA goes into his contract year and isn’t already signed we likely lose him.
If we keep RA and are still going for it, how low of a deal would Freddie consider just to “come home and try to get to 3K hits and potentially 400HRs in ATL? At the same time, if we lose RA, the books are clean based on most all of our contracts, are we entering a rebuild and would Freddie want to go out like that just to hit those milestones in ATL?
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The 2 recent NL only players with 3K hits are Gwynn and Biggio. Freddie is currently sitting on 2431, and it would have been a major slowdown of his MVP pace just to add another 70 in 2020 to put him at 2500. He should be closer to 2531 right now so he’s slightly off pace, but he could hang on.
As long as his health holds up he likely has 150 hits in each of the next two seasons, which would put him at 2,731ish. That would lead to him needing about 275ish in his final 2 years, but realistically he could need 3.
He should clear 400 hrs while still in LA, he’s sitting on 367 and should continue adding about 20 a year. There’s a chance he’s 1 or 2 shy, but that would be a pretty big fall off.
Realistically the 3K hit chase is going to be the thing that may keep him around for 3 more years after his LA contract is up. What does our club even look like at that point and is Freddie the right fit for us or us for him? I think most of those answers depend on how much Freddie is willing to give up to come back.
Either way I think he left for LA with a “good” chance to make the HOF and will leave LA as a HOF lock, so like it or not, it worked out for him and his legacy. I don’t think he needs the 3K hits at this point, but it would be a “nice to have”.
Freddie is a traitor
I don’t see him coming back to the Braves. 1) it sounds like the Dodgers will let him stay as long as he wants and they are close to his home 2) he has school aged kids now and I don’t think he would want to be away from his family that long or move them just for a year or 2. 3) I don’t see him being okay bring a full time DH or a part time 1B or Olson wanting to be a part time 1B to bring him in. I could be wrong and I would welcome him back but I just don’t see it happening.
5 comments
The prodigal shortstop returns!
I mean I could see it happening. Returning for a 2-3 year stint at 38 to DH/be a rotational piece at 1B. If he wants to hit the 20 year mark, let him retire as a Brave. The 6 years in between don’t matter to me, Freddie is and always will be a Brave. Plus he’s making like $60m from LA in deferred money after his deal ends, so if he’s still productive at 38 then it’s a no brainer to bring him back on a cheap (but respectable), incentivized deal.
I think a Freddie return has way more to do with if RA returns then anything else. They are both FA the same year and I think a lot of folks, myself included, feel if RA goes into his contract year and isn’t already signed we likely lose him.
If we keep RA and are still going for it, how low of a deal would Freddie consider just to “come home and try to get to 3K hits and potentially 400HRs in ATL? At the same time, if we lose RA, the books are clean based on most all of our contracts, are we entering a rebuild and would Freddie want to go out like that just to hit those milestones in ATL?
–
The 2 recent NL only players with 3K hits are Gwynn and Biggio. Freddie is currently sitting on 2431, and it would have been a major slowdown of his MVP pace just to add another 70 in 2020 to put him at 2500. He should be closer to 2531 right now so he’s slightly off pace, but he could hang on.
As long as his health holds up he likely has 150 hits in each of the next two seasons, which would put him at 2,731ish. That would lead to him needing about 275ish in his final 2 years, but realistically he could need 3.
He should clear 400 hrs while still in LA, he’s sitting on 367 and should continue adding about 20 a year. There’s a chance he’s 1 or 2 shy, but that would be a pretty big fall off.
Realistically the 3K hit chase is going to be the thing that may keep him around for 3 more years after his LA contract is up. What does our club even look like at that point and is Freddie the right fit for us or us for him? I think most of those answers depend on how much Freddie is willing to give up to come back.
Either way I think he left for LA with a “good” chance to make the HOF and will leave LA as a HOF lock, so like it or not, it worked out for him and his legacy. I don’t think he needs the 3K hits at this point, but it would be a “nice to have”.
Freddie is a traitor
I don’t see him coming back to the Braves. 1) it sounds like the Dodgers will let him stay as long as he wants and they are close to his home 2) he has school aged kids now and I don’t think he would want to be away from his family that long or move them just for a year or 2. 3) I don’t see him being okay bring a full time DH or a part time 1B or Olson wanting to be a part time 1B to bring him in. I could be wrong and I would welcome him back but I just don’t see it happening.