If Game 6 of the 2021 World Series turns out to be Freddie Freeman’s coda as a member of the Braves, then it amply reflects his long-standing excellence.
The Atlanta stalwart will soon be eligible for free agency, which raises the possibility that this will be the last time that we see him at the plate in Braves garb:
That seventh-inning solo home run off Ryne Stanek pushed the margin of the clinching game to 7-0. An earlier RBI double by Freeman had made it 6-0. That home run was Freeman’s fifth of the 2021 postseason, which ties Fred McGriff’s 1996 franchise record for the most in a single playoffs.
Remember when Freeman began the NLCS by going 0 for 8 with seven strikeouts? His bat was slow, and he looked out of sorts in a way that defied everything we knew about Freddie Freeman. After those first two games, Freeman was batting .190/.320/.381 for the playoffs. In a sense, the Braves were surviving in spite of him. Since that low mark, though, Freeman found his level and then some. After his Game 6 outbursts on Tuesday night, Freeman ends the 2021 postseason with a slash line of .304/.420/.625. That’s vintage Freeman. That’s been the Braves’ fulcrum for more than a decade.
It was especially fitting, then, that the ball settled into Freeman’s capable glove in the ninth and clinched the Braves’ fourth title:
Freeman is, for now, a Braves lifer. They drafted him with a second-round pick in 2007, and by 2010 he’d arrived in the majors. Across parts of 12 seasons in Atlanta, Freeman has tallied 1,704 hits; 271 home runs; 43.1 WAR; five All-Star appearances; two Silver Sluggers; one Gold Glove; one NL MVP; 42 postseason games played; and now one World Series ring (to be delivered at a future date). That’s a body of work that cries out for Freeman’s No. 5 to be retired one day in whatever Truist Park is called by then. The question now is whether he’ll add to it.
As hinted at up top, the eight-year, $135 million contract extension that Freeman signed prior to the 2014 season will soon expire, and at that point Freeman will become a free agent. Freeman, it should be noted, can still do work at the plate. He was MVP in the abbreviated 2020 season, and this year he batted .300/.393/.503 with 31 home runs in 159 games. He’s a 32-year-old first baseman and as such carries some risk, but he still looks like a good near- to mid-term bet to continue producing at a high level.
The question is whether the Braves will do what’s necessary to re-sign the face of their franchise in the afterglow of their first title in more than a quarter-century. As is the case with all such matters, it comes down to organizational will. If there’s enough of it, they’ll bring Freeman home, probably for the remainder of his career. The money’s there, especially with that freshly hoisted trophy in tow, but the will is the thing. The guess here is that what should happen — a new contract with the Braves — happens, but it’s far from a certainty.
So what if the Braves don’t pay Freeman what he’s worth and he winds up walking? Then he can console himself with that ring, yes, but also with the knowledge that his final acts as a Brave were to hit a World Series home run and to secure the out that ensured all the glories available to the sport belonged to his team. As final acts go, those are as hard to beat as Freddie Freeman and the 2021 Atlanta Braves were on Tuesday night.
