Once the Braves thought they were out on Freddie Freeman in March 2022, they turned to Anthony Rizzo before making another first-base move, according to a report that adds a new twist to one of baseball’s busiest free-agent stretches.
The parties never got close to a deal. Atlanta did not want to match the two-year, $32 million contract Rizzo later signed with the New York Yankees, including an opt-out after the first year, and its preference was a one-year arrangement. When those talks stalled, the Braves were left weighing Adam Duvall or a trade for Matt Olson, and they quickly chose Olson. Atlanta acquired him from the then-Oakland Athletics for four prospects, only one of whom, catcher Shea Langeliers, became a player of consequence.
The detail matters because it undercuts a story line that took hold after Freeman, Olson and Rizzo all changed teams in the span of four days in March 2022: that the Braves had been aimed at Olson all along. Instead, the reported sequence shows a club that first chased Freeman, then checked on Rizzo, then pivoted to Olson when the market would not bend in its favor.
That spring also set up a chain of moves that still shapes the franchise. Freeman agreed to a six-year, $162 million deal with the Dodgers, with more than 35 percent of the money deferred. Olson, meanwhile, signed an eight-year, $168 million extension the day after joining Atlanta and has not missed a game since. His streak of 826 consecutive games is the second longest in the majors since 2000, and it has come while he has hit 54 homers and helped anchor the Braves’ lineup.
The friction in the story is that Atlanta’s eventual success with Olson was not born from a perfectly laid plan. It came after the club declined to go to Rizzo’s Yankees level of commitment and had to choose between a stopgap in Duvall and a trade package for Olson. The report’s account suggests the Braves were reacting to the market, not quietly steering it.
Freeman’s side of the story added its own sting to Atlanta’s decisions. He has since won World Series MVP honors with the Dodgers after his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, a reminder of how thin the margins were when the Braves first believed he was gone. The sequence from that March remains one of the most consequential few days in recent club history, and this new reporting shows just how uncertain the path was before Olson ever arrived.
What looked in hindsight like a straight line to Atlanta’s next first baseman was, in real time, a scramble. The Braves missed on Rizzo, passed on a bigger commitment, and landed on Olson only after the first two doors closed.
