Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos Was in Tears Talking About Replacing Freddie Freeman

Damn.

Alex Anthopoulos can't comment on any particular free agents until they sign with a team, but you can pretty well tell why he's nearly in tears in this clip. He had to make the call to bring Matt Olson to Atlanta rather than re-sign Freddie Freeman, ending a decade-long era of the MVP and World Series champ at first base for the Braves.

As much sense as I truly believe this makes baseball-wise, it's going to really suck to see Freddie in another uniform. The Braves got the absolute best first baseman they could have outside of Freeman, but you can understand why this was so hard on somebody in Anthopoulos's position. It's entirely possible he even wanted to bring Freddie back, but was limited by ownership. Whatever the case, this is understandably difficult for everyone in the Braves' front office.

But as Anthopoulos also alluded to today, Atlanta still needs another outfielder and starting pitcher. Regardless of whether you think the Braves got marginally better or worse at first base, this should allow them to get several other great players.

Atlanta is going to be right back in World Series contention in 2022, but this is still hard. Hopefully No. 5 will still be retired at Truist Park one day.