For Braves fans, Monday should’ve been about welcoming a new franchise cornerstone. Instead, it was about mourning the loss of an old one.
The acquisition for A’s All-Star Matt Olson meant Freddie Freeman was as good as gone from Atlanta, and that notion overshadowed the actual trade that took place. Even Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos appeared to have a hard time swallowing the departure of Freeman, as he choked back tears while holding a press conference announcing Olson’s arrival and said the trade was “the hardest decision he’s had to make” in Atlanta.