Will 2027 Be Freeman's Last Year?
Not long ago during an interview, Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman said he wanted to play four more years which would give him 20 in the majors and take him to his age 40 season. His reasons for this are his goal of reaching 3,000 hits and finishing with a .300 batting…
Not long ago during an interview, Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman said he wanted to play four more years which would give him 20 in the majors and take him to his age 40 season. His reasons for this are his goal of reaching 3,000 hits and finishing with a .300 batting average. Freeman averages 180 hits a year. He is just 12 hits away from 2500. He needs 123 hits the rest of the year to hit his 180 mark. At his current pace, he will finish with about 155. That would give him 2,623 hits. That would leave him 377 hits away from the magic 3,000 mark.
He also is closing in on 400 homers. He averages 27 a year, so again, easily attainable. He has 375 right now. He also would finish with over 1500 RBIs. He is the current active career leader. No matter what he decides, Freeman will likely be a first ballot Hall of Famer. 2024 was not a typical Freeman year. The illness of his son caused him to miss 2 weeks of the season. He batted just .282 with 22 homers and 89 driven in. Not a normal Freddie year, but he more than made up for it on a bum ankle when he was the World Series MVP and only the second Dodger to homer four times in a World Series. Duke Snider did it twice.
He rebounded in 25, but at .295, was just below his goal. He played in the same number of games as 24, hit 2 more homers, but drove in just 1 more run. His WAR for 25 was a full point lower than 24.4.5 to 3.5. In four post season series, he batted just .225 with 2 homers and 3 driven in. Is it age slowing him down, or something else? He has not had a typical Freddie year so far. His strikeout rate is right at 20%. His walk rate is slightly lower. It just seems he is not barreling up balls like he did the first two years in LA.
In his first two years in LA, he averaged 53 doubles a year. the last two, 37. Dave Roberts is giving him more rest the last couple of years. Freeman used to not want to take a day off. But behind the scenes, there seems to be something else happening that has Freddie re-evaluating his future. What brought about this thinking?
Well, it isn’t age or performance, even though the frustration with his performance so far is obvious in his facial expressions. Nope, it is the presence in his life of a little girl. His daughter, Rosemary, named after his mother, came into the World on April 19th, just a couple of weeks after the season began. She is their 4th child.
To a man with three sons, the daughter is special. I have 2 daughters and a son. My girls came first, so when my son was finally born, I felt fulfilled as a dad. For Freddie, this little girl has become the center of his universe. For maybe the first time in his career, his future in baseball is less certain. In fact, over the last couple of weeks, retirement from the game has become a topic. The goal of 3000 hits has taken a backseat to missing this little girl grow up.
From February to October, ball players are merely visitors in their homes except for the rare occasions when the family goes on a road trip with the team. Trust me, as a father, a lot can happen in 9 days on the road. As a truck driver, often I would be on the road for a month. That can strain relationships, but when your kids are young, it means you are missing parts of their lives.
It seems Freeman is beginning to not want to make that commitment further than the last year of his deal, 2027. I have to believe that Freddie and his wife, Chelsea, are going to have some serious discussions this off season about the future. Freddie has made enough to not have to worry about finances. I am also pretty sure he will be following the negotiations between the MLBPA and MLB over the new CBA this winter.
He will no doubt, honor his contract, and he will play in 27. But beyond that, well, only time will tell.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Round Rock Express (Texas) 3 – OKC Comets 2
RHSP Christian Romero had an off night. He gave up a pair of solo HRs, but was struggling most of the night. He only walked one, but he also only struck out one. In his 4.2 IP, he had thrown 90 pitches (58 strikes).
RHRP Carlos Duran came in to relieve Romero and struck out the first batter to end the inning.
In the 5th, C Eliézer Alfonzo drew a leadoff walk. One out later 2B Tommy Edman walked. With 2 outs, RF Jack Suwinski walked to load the bases. LF Zach Ehrhard hit an infield single to the SS who threw the ball away as Alfonzo and Edman scored.
The pitchers took over from the 5th. The Comets did not get a hit, and drew just 1 BB the rest of the way.
OKC managed just 3 hits. No batter had more than 1 hit, and none were for XBH. Not a memorable game.
Tulsa Drillers 13 – Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) 9
LHRP Evan Shaw was the opener for a bullpen game. The good thing in his 1.0 inning of work was that he did not walk anyone. The bad thing, he allowed 6 hits, scoring 4 runs. The first 4 batters were single, double, double, single. Two more singles before the inning was complete.
2B Taylor Young making his first start back at AA after a rehab assignment homered on his first AB in the 2nd inning.
In the 4th, SS Elijah Hainline led off with a BB, stole 2nd, and scored on 3B Jake Gelof’s single.
In the 5th, Tulsa exploded for 7 runs. Young led off with a BB and 1B Joe Vetrano reached on catcher’s interference. C Frank Rodriguez put down a sac bunt that was thrown away for an error on which Young scored. LF Josue De Paula singled to score Vetrano, and CF Mike Sirota doubled (5) to score Rodriguez. RF Zyhir Hope followed with a 3-run HR (10). DH Chris Newell started it up again with a BB. He stole 2nd and scored on Young’s single.
LHRP Christian Suarez pitched a pair of scoreless innings. LHRP Myles Caba pitched a scoreless 4th, but ran into trouble in the 5th. After a 2-out BB, he gave up a HR.
In the 6th, JDP drew a 1 out BB. Sirota forced JDP at 2nd. Hainline drew a BB followed by Hope’s 2nd 3-run HR (11) of the night.
In the home 6th, with Caba still on the mound, the first batter reached on an error. With one out, a single put runners on 1st and 2nd. RHRP Carson Hobbs came in and got the next out. But he walked the next two batters and then a 2-run single.
In the 8th, RHRP Kelvin Ramirez gave up a solo HR making the score 12-9.
In the 9th, Vetrano drew a 1-out BB. Rodriguez singled Vetrano to 2nd. After JDP forced Rodriguez at 2nd, Sirota delivered a run scoring single.
Kelvin Ramirez pitched a scoreless 9th to close out the game.
- Mike Sirota – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double (5)
- Zyhir Hope – 3-5, 2 runs, 6 RBI, 2 HR (11)
- Taylor Young – 2-3, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (1)
With Kendall George on the IL, Taylor Young should take over as the SB threat. He got his 1st tonight.
Great Lakes Loons 4 – Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 0
LHSP Zach Root was just toying with the Lugnuts. He completed 7.0 innings, allowing just 1 single and striking out 9. One other Lugnut reached on an error while Root was in. Root threw 88 pitches (59 strikes) and faced just 23 batters. This was a thoroughly dominating game for Root. As I mentioned yesterday, Root cannot be long at Great Lakes. He deserves a shot at Tulsa.
RHRP Robby Porco walked one, but struck out 2 in his one inning. RHRP Dilan Figueredo allowed 1 hit in the 9th, with 1 K.
Great Lakes scored in the 3rd. C Victor Rodrigues doubled (3) and moved to 3rd on a WP. LF Chuck Davalan drove in Rodrigues with a sac fly.
In the 5th, Rodrigues led off with a BB. 3B Jose Izarra reached on a fielder’s choice and throwing error. CF Eduardo Quintero doubled (9) home both runners. Quintero moved to 3B on the throw home. SS Emil Morales followed with a sac fly and a 4-0 lead.
The Loons had 3 hits and the Lugnuts had 2. Two of the three Loons hits were doubles: Rodrigues (3) and Quintero (9). The third hit was a single by RF Kole Myers.
Stockton Ports (A’s) 16 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 8
RHSP Hyun-Seok Jang had his 2nd bad outing in a row. In the 1st, he allowed a double. The runner moved to 3rd on a ground out and scored on a WP.
In the home half, 2B Kellon Lindsey singled, was WP to 2nd and stole 3rd. After CF Jaron Elkins walked, 3B Chase Harlan hit into a DP and Lindsey scored.
In the 2nd, Jang gave up a run scoring double and a 2-run HR. In the bottom of the 2nd, DH Easton Shelton and RF Landyn Vidourek drew BB. With 2 outs 1B Mairo Martinus had an RBI single.
Jang gave up a solo HR in the 4th. Ontario got a 1-out single from C Conner O’Neal and Martinus doubled (11) him to 3rd. Lindsey banged a 2-run single to close within 1.
Jang retired the side in order in the 5th. In the 6th, RHRP Jhonny Jiminez gave up a run on a single, BB, sac bunt, and sac fly.
In the bottom of the 6th, O’Neal homered (4) to keep it a one run game.
With RHRP Jecsua Liborius on the mound, he hit the first two batters followed by 2 singles and 1 run. A balk and sac fly brought in 2 more.
In the 8th, Elkins doubled (9) and scored on Harlan’s single.
Stockton put up 6 in the 9th, and Ontario went down without a run, but O’Neal did hit a double (5) for his 4th hit of the night.
- Conner O’Neal – 4-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double (5), HR (4)
- Kellon Lindsey – 2-6, 1 run, 2 RBI
- Mairo Martinus – 2-5, 1 run 1 RBI, double (11)
- Doubles – Ching-Hsien Ko (7), Jaron Elkins (9)
DSL Royals Fortuna 11 – DSL Dodgers Bautista 3
Dodgers Bautista had 3 hits, all singles. Two of the three hits came from players deemed to keep an eye on (Melburne and Reynosa)
- DH Ezequiel Melburne
- SS Ariel Reynoso
- C Oliver Chapman
Melburne was 1-2 with 2 BB.
All 5 Dodgers Bautista pitchers allowed at least one run.
There was no DSL LAD Mega game or ACL game.
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Discussion (69)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I think it’s River time. He’s more than capable of pitching 6 innings and should much better than E.L. When Glasnow is ready to come back , I can see Emmett or Wrobo first outta the pen for long relief. Then by the time Snell is ready, probably one of our other starters will be gassed (or hurt) and need some IL time. My 2 cents.
The Dodger starting pitching has been outstanding so far. They are pitching far later into games than last year. Ohtani and Yamamoto have be solid, as expected. Of course, Wrobleski has been a surprise and has turned into a solid #3. He has become a “pitcher” with his soft contact rate. Now, with him locating his pitches he is able to add some velo which has increased his K rate. It’s refreshing to watch a young prospect combine his throwing talent and the mental aspect of the game to maximize his pitching skills and contributions to the team. Roki Sasaki seems to have gained some much needed confidence in his last start. Sure, he’ll have some growing pains along the way. But, if he can remain confident that should allow him to overcome those outings where things aren’t going his way. The talent is there. It’s the mental aspect of the game that needs to continue to grow. The Dodger FO did the right thing in not sending him down to OKC. It was nice to see his teammates rally around him after he came out of his most recent start. Especially, Vesia. Emmet Sheehan has been effective as a #4-5 starter. He’s not the most consistent, but he’s not afraid to throw strikes. He has times where he is rolling along he throws a HR pitch. He’s only 26 and if he can stay healthy (a big if) Emmet should be a mainstay in the rotation for several years. What is going to happen to the rotation when (if) Glasnow and Snell return? If the current rotation can stay healthy then I think the Dodgers should have these two play catch for a couple of months. Then in August start to build up to pitch their usual five inning outings for the postseason. I fear that if they return soon they will break down at least once before the postseason arrives. Then the strategy of having them “fresh” for the playoffs goes out the window. It would, also, allow the three young pitchers above the chance to gain experience and be strong additions to the BP in the postseason. Carry on.
Patience. I’ve checked with my Magic 8 Ball. “Tucker will contribute.”
It’s always good to hear how well our “best” prospects are doing. And several are ranked quite high on all the prospects lists. But a quick check on stat leaderboards tells me in AA there are 14 players OPS’n higher than DePaula, 32 players OPS’n higher than Hope. Then there are the number of players in AAA that are banging better pitching. My point? Every team has prospects. The question I ask is, who can help now. Watching this team play, at times anyway, is high anxiety. Then I look at the standings and the Dodgers are 6 games up, and if the season ended today the only team in all of baseball they wouldn’t have home field against is Atlanta. Damm. This team is good. I wonder how good they will be in Sept/Oct when Glasnow, Snell, Diaz, Stone, Phillips, Teo, Kiké and Edman are all back playing at 100%? I also wonder if this team will ever be at 100%? I believe Freeman will extend. The idea he’s not home a lot sounds ridiculous to me. Baseball players, even those that play to November have over 3 months off and are home 81 of the 162 games of the season. For the amount of money they get paid, that’s a lot of days off and a lot of days at home. Plus they play baseball for a living. How many of us would do that til age 65 if we could? I know I would. If he extends 2 years his daughter will be 3 when he retires. He will have all day every day with his kids from age 40 on. Who of us can say that? That said, if he reaches his personal goals, and the Dodgers 3peat, I won’t be surprised if he walks away. He’s made close to $300 million. He will have 4 rings if they win again. He’s a first ballot HOFer. “F it. I’m outta here. Retire at 40 and live the good life. I want to thank all the people that paid for this. The fans.” Said no player ever.
I agree MT. Expectations for Lauer are low and he is delivering so far. I would think it reduces any stress Lauer might feel starting for a team with championship goals. Just do what you do best consistently. So far, so good. And, stay healthy!
Until Snell and Glasnow are back. DBacks are a gritty, pesky team. Hopefully Shohei can shut them down tonight and give us a chance at a series win.
I noticed the same thing with Tucker’s swing. When the season started and watching Tucker’s ABs I thought “what the hell is this?”. I hadn’t watched much of Tucker in the past, but thought he had that beautiful LH smooth swing. Apparently, not the case. What a major disappointment so far. In 2025 it was the “out of nowhere” Tanner Scott and Blake Snell signings. This year AF decided to push the envelope further with a “was that really necessary to pay $60M/year?” signing of Kyle Tucker. I know money is not a consideration for the ownership, but to pay such outrageous sums and get the returns that they have is just silly.
Hated this contract when it was signed and hate it even more now. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a player weakly ground out more than this guy.
Tucker has one of the ugliest swings in my opinion. It’s all arms and no legs. A lot of left handed batters have a sweet looking swing but not his. Seems like an easy out most of the times when he is at the plate.
Eric Lauer’s line against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday was exactly what the Los Angeles Dodgers needed from their newest sixth starter. Lauer mostly mitigated damage versus one of baseball’s best clubs against left-handed pitching, allowing two earned runs over 4 2/3 innings in the Dodgers’ 6-5 win. The line score was nothing flashy, and not much really popped off the page, but the Dodgers don’t need Lauer to overpower the opposition. They simply need him to post a solid start once a week, and let the rest of the rotation take it from there. — From The Athletic Lauer is a perfect #6 starter.
Nail biter last night. The first inning was the only clean inning by a Dodger pitcher. Lauer tried to make it through 5. Hurt had a bad outing. Shake it off and go to the next game big guy. Pen has had some troubles the last week. Scott back on track. Too many walks last night, and a few missed opportunities by the offense. I wish sometimes that Davis would just keep his mouth shut. After Ohtani’s double and then triple, old state the obvious Davis started talking about a cycle. Hey Joe! We are watching the effing game. We know that it is possible and don’t need you to tell us constantly. Quit doing your best Drew Goodman impersonation. He always does stuff like that.
Pay 100 million of Tucker’s contract and trade him in the deal. Eat it! Move on – nothing to see here. Sirota and DePaula are better!
It doesn’t seem long ago that we had no Outfielders in the system!! Shame we didn’t push a few in for CJ. He’s off to a great start. Good to see Freeland playing well.
From BA: Zyhir Hope, OF, Dodgers: Hope had one of his best games of the season Tuesday, recording three hits, including a pair of three-run home runs. His nine total bases were a season high, and he drove in a season-high six runs. His first home run in the fifth inning left the bat at 114 mph, and his second came in his next at-bat and sealed the game, extending Tulsa’s lead to six runs. Hope now has 11 home runs and is hitting .296/.356/.515. He makes up the most talented outfield in all of minor league baseball that also features Josue De Paula and Mike Sirota, who both rank among the top 20 prospects in all of baseball. The Dodgers also have Eduardo Quintero and Charles Davalan in High-A and James Tibbs in Triple-A, giving them the most talented outfield group in all of baseball.
Was watching Ontario’s game. Lindsey, Elkins, Harlan & Ko all swing the bat hard. Bunch of killers at the plate.
Remember Duke,you wanted Roberts Jr. from the White Sox many times. Look where he is now with the Mets, on the 60 Day IL. He is Always hurt. Be careful who you wish for in trades,especially pitchers. I rather have the Dodgers develop their own and keep them.
Root was the Dodger’s first pick in the 2025 First Year Player’s Draft.
Zach Root was the Dodgers’ first pick, followed immediately by his Arkansas teammate Davalan (on the draft pick acquisition that was part of the excellent Lux deal). But I think both are technically second-round picks. Anyway, it’s great to read about Root’s progress. It seems that he is a rarity: a finesse/control pitcher in college who has added velocity as a pro. Looks like a keeper… unless Detroit demands him in the Skubal blockbuster. It’s fun to read about the Dodgers’ prospects. I used to be wary of the hype surrounding de Paula–it gave me Cartaya heebie-jeebies — but he really seems to be living up to it now. And Tibbs is playing like he might be a worthy successor to Freddie. (He might have been promoted instead of Ward but a wrist injury has limited him to DH duties recently.) I trust Freddie will indeed fulfill his contract through ’27 and reassess his future when the time comes. In addition to his “counting stats,” Freddie’s HOF-campaign highlight reel features a couple of epic walk-offs and championship rings. Plus, he’s a popular guy–never surly, and no hint of PEDs. He’s a lock. As for Skubal….. Detroit is struggling, and the smart move would be to deal Skubal. The Dodgers don’t need him, but did they really need Tucker or Diaz? AF and BG could put together a strong package and still have a top-notch farm system. If they pass on Skubal, perhaps they’ll go after Skenes or Misiorowski when the time is ripe.
Finally a first round draft pick left handed pitcher by the Dodgers in Zach Root that might make an impact at the Major League level with the Dodgers IF he stays healthy. I believe he was pick number 40 in last year’s draft. Clayton Kershaw might has been the last left handed pitcher first round Dodger draft pick to achieve that excellence as a future first ballot Hall of Famer.