Report: Dodgers, Freddie Freeman talking six-year, $160 million deal

The Los Angeles Dodgers and free agent 1B Freddie Freeman are talking a six-year, $160 million deal, per Ken Rosenthal. Freeman just won the World Series with the Atlanta Braves and is set to leave the team to go to Los Angeles on a pretty sizable deal.

Freeman offers consistent production better than just about any player in baseball. He posted a 133 OPS+ in 2021, which marked the ninth consecutive season he has recorded a 130 or better OPS+; no other player in the game has achieved that for even eight straight seasons. Prior to the 2020 season, he overcame a scary bout with COVID-19 en route to being named National League MVP. Then he overcame a slow start to the 2021 season en route to scoring an NL-best 120 runs and hitting 31 homers. He was also outstanding during the Braves’ run to their first championship in 26 years, slashing .304/.420/.625 at the plate.

Freeman is a five-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger, a Gold Glove winner and a player who ranked among the top-10 in NL MVP voting in each of the past four years. During that stretch, he sat out just seven of a possible 546 games. Freeman is entering his age-32 season, so forecasting some statistical dropoff in the long term is probably warranted. But there aren’t really any signs that Freeman is bound to regress in 2022. You should expect more of the same high-level consistency as he begins this new contract.