Major League Baseball

Dodgers add Freddie Freeman: If you can't beat 'em, sign 'em

Updated Mar. 20, 2022 7:13 p.m. ET

By Pedro Moura
FOX Sports MLB Writer

PHOENIX — It began two years ago, with Mookie Betts, who had led the 2018 Red Sox to a World Series win over the Dodgers. Sixteen months later, the Dodgers acquired him.

It continued last year, with Trea Turner. He helped the 2019 Nationals to an NLDS win over the Dodgers and soon their own World Series win. Twenty-one months later, the Dodgers acquired him — and Max Scherzer.

Now, there is Freddie Freeman. He nearly led the 2020 Braves to an NLCS upset over the Dodgers and completed the feat in 2021. Five months later, the Dodgers acquired him, too, on a six-year, $162 million contract.

Freeman becomes the fourth in an unprecedented line of superstars who beat this superteam and then joined it.

In other words: If you cannot beat them, go get them.

It is not as if that is the Dodgers’ actual acquisition strategy. After all, they didn't sign Carlos Correa. But it’s at least some coincidence that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has repeatedly targeted the few players capable of leading teams that oust his rosters.

The Dodgers are so good and so deep that those are often the only players worth their while. Freeman observed that over the years, and he was content with becoming the next big fish they caught. The Dodgers lured him with attention. Friedman started to ping Freeman's phone just as Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos stopped calling.

"The communication," Freeman said of Atlanta's pursuit, "wasn’t all there."

The Dodgers used multiple sources to keep up their end of the conversation. Friedman and manager Dave Roberts held a 90-minute Zoom with Freeman the week before the lockout began. Once it did, third baseman Justin Turner kept up with him.

"Shoot," Turner said, "I’ve been recruiting him to be a Dodger for, like, five years."

Freeman, laughing, confirmed that.

Friedman said he was not specifically motivated by Freeman’s NLCS dominance against the Dodgers over the past two years. But he allowed that he was grateful for the gift of freed-up brainpower. Each year, the Dodgers scoured video for holes within Freeman’s swing. Each year, they found nothing.

"All the time we spent preparing for him, I don’t know what we’re gonna do," Friedman said. "We’ll have so much extra time."

Several Dodgers were unsurprised that this union came to fruition. They’ve seen it happen enough times to know.

"We always seem to get the person, huh?" catcher Austin Barnes said.

At his introductory news conference Friday, Freeman sounded more surprised than any of them. He repeatedly noted that he never expected to leave Atlanta, the only organization he’d ever known. He repeatedly cited the number of calls (two) he received from Anthopoulos. And he mentioned that the Braves never responded to his agent’s counter-offer in extension talks last July.

The Dodgers were happy to pick up the Braves’ slack. They held Freeman’s news conference on the second-floor patio overlooking the field at Camelback Ranch one hour before their first pitch of 2022. Fans gathered on the stadium’s berm and concourse, looking up at the newest prize, clapping and taking photographs.

Two minutes before Freeman and Friedman emerged, several Dodgers executives walked into view. "Thank you, Andrew," one fan yelled, drawing laughter from the men who work for him.

Freeman’s new teammates, too, have spent this week marveling at the executive’s ability to add, year after year, while maintaining an elite farm system. Since the signing came together, the Dodgers have fielded questions about whether this lineup is their best yet, even the best from any team.

This will be the third time in MLB history — and the first time in 40 years — that an MLB team will begin a season with four former MVPs on its roster.

In what amounted to a sort of humblebrag, one of them, Clayton Kershaw, said he was unsure if this is the most talented Dodgers roster in his time.

"We’ve had a lot of good teams," he said. "We’ve had a lot of good players."

He’s not wrong.

Freeman, a first baseman, is essentially replacing shortstop Corey Seager in the Dodgers’ lineup, as well as usurping his number. At their respective bests, they put up similar statistics. Seager signed with Texas for almost exactly twice as much money.

Trea Turner and Max Muncy will each shift left within the infield to account for the defensive differences between the two players. Because of all their superstar additions, most of the Dodgers are accustomed to accommodating positional switches. Understanding that the majority of his time will no longer come at the position, Muncy presented his first-base glove to Freeman on Friday.

One overlooked element of the pact is the additional availability provided by the new designated hitter. Muncy can slot there when the Dodgers want better infield defense. Freeman can slot there when the Dodgers want him to rest or, in the years to come, when his defense declines.

Friedman said it would’ve been "way harder" for him to rationalize signing Freeman if the rule change had not come to the National League for 2022.

"There would’ve been a domino effect that came from it that would’ve added more difficulty and friction to the deal," Friedman told FOX Sports. "It would’ve been way harder."

Instead, it was rather easy. As easy as it could be to pry the franchise cornerstone from the reigning champions. The Dodgers aren’t even extending themselves an outrageous amount financially. According to reports, there’s enough deferred money in Freeman’s contract that their offer ends up equivalent to the Braves’ last reported offer of $140 million.

The 2022 season will mark Friedman’s eighth year in charge of the Dodgers. In most, if not all of those seasons, the team has looked better than its predecessor. The Dodgers keep pushing the standard higher.

"I could argue that the next five years’ outlook," Friedman said Friday, "is better than the previous five."

With Betts, Turner and Freeman in tow, who would argue with him?

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He most recently covered the Dodgers for three seasons for The Athletic. Previously, he spent five years covering the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and L.A. Times. More previously, he covered his alma mater, USC, for ESPNLosAngeles.com. The son of Brazilian immigrants, he grew up in the Southern California suburbs. Follow him on Twitter @pedromoura.