The Braves and Austin Riley couldn’t avoid arbitration for up to $205,000, proving that Atlanta learned nothing from Freddy Freeman’s loss.
The offseason in Atlanta could turn out to be one of the best teams in baseball, but that’s not the point here.
Atlanta should pride itself on its ability to retain local stars. Despite Freeman losing, they once signed him to an eight-year contract extension in light of the arbitration process, hoping to avoid it altogether. However, with a pair of Young All-Stars in the making at Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson, Alex Anthopoulos opted for a legal war to give both players what they wanted in the short term.
That’s despite record revenue generated by Liberty Media last year, and what is sure to be another lucrative season in Atlanta as the Braves chase a recurring World Series.
The brave can’t avoid judging with Austin Riley
The difference between Riley and Atlanta was a paltry $205,000.
Meanwhile, Swanson lost a new $800,000 contract. In the terms of an MLB contract, that’s not much.
At the time that Freeman signed Eight-year contract in 2014Anthopoulos was not the general manager. Instead, it was Frank Wren who negotiated the eight-year extension with the first star.
“Freddie has proven himself as one of the best young talents in the game,” Braves’ general manager at the time, Frank Reine, said in a statement. “We are excited to sign one of our local players on a contract that will keep him in the Braves uniform for the next eight seasons.”
Anthopoulos is a superior general manager at this point – most people can agree on that. But perhaps he could take a note from one of his ancestors. It’s best to deal with these kinds of things at home when possible and build a financial camaraderie.
Ultimately, the Braves will want to sign Riley and Swanson to long-term contracts. The financial pressure will only mount until then, especially because none of the players will forget how cheap the Braves were in the judging process, when less than $1 million (and in Riley’s case less than $300,000) separated the two sides from the unit.
The brave could have avoided this situation altogether. Just as they could have avoided the Freeman free agent saga by holding off last season’s negotiations, rather than the franchise player’s performance in the final year of his long-term contract.
For the brave, we can only hope that history will not repeat itself.
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