
One of the biggest storylines paused by the Major League Baseball lockout revolves around Freddie Freeman and which MLB uniform he will be wearing during the 2022 season. Will he return to the Atlanta Braves, or will a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees swoop in to sign him?
Outside of the Braves, perhaps no team has had a greater tie to Freeman’s potential future than the Los Angeles Dodgers. With Freeman being a Southern California native, there have been plenty of fuel added to the rumors about him “returning home” to become a member of the Dodgers. That could be with a shorter, more lucrative deal (as has been rumored in recent weeks), or a six-year deal (as has been rumored to be Freeman’s preference earlier in the lockout) that would likely take the 32-year-old first baseman toward the end of his career.
What is the timeline of the Freddie Freeman-Los Angeles Dodgers rumors? Let’s take a look.
It wasn’t along after the Braves won the World Series on November 2 that rumors about Freeman departing Atlanta began to heat up. The first big mention of a potential Freeman-Dodgers connection came on November 24 in an article in The Athletic by Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) where he suggested that Freeman going to L.A. could salve the wounds should the team lose Corey Seager (which it would within the next week to the Texas Rangers). Still, in the article, Rosenthal says the odds of any club getting serious with Freeman are “long.”