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The Atlanta Braves shocked the baseball world last month when they decided to trade for Oakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson rather than re-sign Freddie Freeman, one of the faces of the franchise that dates back more than a decade. Whether or not that proves to be the right decision on the field remains to be seen — Olson beat Freeman last season and is a few years younger — but there’s now reason to believe clubhouse dynamics play a role in their decision-making could have played process.
Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. conducted a live Instagram interview with Dominican journalist Yancen Pujols on Wednesday night, in which he addressed Freeman’s departure. According to Pujols, Acuña said he won’t miss Freeman and that he doesn’t speak to him often. He also claimed Freeman was unfriendly during his rookie season.
Here’s a snippet of the video where Acuña can be heard saying “nada” in response to being asked if they spoke often.
For his part, Acuña has since tweeted a denial in response to a tweet outlining some of his comments.
Clubhouse dynamics and interpersonal relationships cannot be judged from the outside. However, Freeman had previously publicly criticized Acuña. Here’s what Freeman said in October 2019 after Acuña posted just a single on a long flyball in a playoff game against the St. Louis Cardinals because he acted like it was a safe home run: “It’s frustrating,” he said therefore to the USA today. “I think you’ll have this conversation once. Beating a dead horse if you keep having the same conversation over and over again. That can’t happen in the playoffs, can’t happen in the regular season.”
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Regardless of Acuña’s thoughts on Freeman, the Braves will begin their title defense Thursday night (8:08 p.m. ET) against the Cincinnati Reds. Acuña, who is still recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture and is not expected to play until May, will not feature; but neither does Freeman.