Freddie Freeman hits a two-run homer Oct. 21 for the Braves during the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. | mlb.com
Freddie Freeman hits a two-run homer Oct. 21 for the Braves during the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. | mlb.com
The Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman rejected a qualifying offer of $18.4 million over one year to become an unrestricted free agent.
Freeman will continue seeking a contract that will most likely be worth $25 million to $30 million per season and the Braves are among teams still in pursuit, according to MLB.com.
“They expressed they want to keep me here, and I’ve expressed I want to stay here,” Freeman told MLB.com. “Did I think I’d be here with no extension? No, I didn’t think that at all. I thought this would be long gone. But I’m here.”
The Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers and Dodgers are among the teams already in pursuit of the 2020 National League MVP, MLB.com said. After a slow start to the season, Freeman came on to rank second in the National League with a .342 batting average and sixth with a .960 OPS.
Past Braves stars Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Dale Murphy and Andrew Jones all departed the team in free agency, according to MLB.com.
In June his season turned around dramatically and he had the second highest batting average in the National League after that point. He finished the season as a .300 hitter with 31 home runs and a .896 OPS.
Freeman said that he did not want to go to free agency but did not get the deal he wanted, according to MLB.com.
Freeman is the only Major League player to finish each of the past nine seasons with an OPS+ of greater than 130. He is also the only Atlanta Braves player other than Aaron, Mathews, Murphy and Chipper Jones to hit 30 home runs with a .300 batting average in multiple seasons.
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