Yankees fan favorite Cameron Maybin defends Freddie Freeman against Braves

All former Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin wants to know is why the Bombers are even in the Freddie Freeman conversation?

After all, shouldn’t the Braves have given him a blank check … in August? And if not midseason, they certainly should have done it Nov. 5 following the conclusion of the World Series.

You know, the World Series that finished with Freeman giving the city of Atlanta its first major sports title since 1995.

Might’ve been a prime opportunity to reward one of the region’s athletic cornerstones. Alas, here we are.

As the offseason (read: lockout) stretches on further, the Yankees are being connected to Freeman more routinely. The latest bomb came from Jon Heyman over the weekend, claiming that the Bombers “plan to make a run” at Freeman now that the door has been left unlocked in Atlanta.

Surely, Maybin would approve of a Yankees-Freeman match. He’s in the running to grab an analyst job with the YES Network this season, and that would make things more interesting.

Before we go any further, though, he just wants to know why.

Why are the Braves letting the Yankees in by not paying Freddie Freeman?

Why are the Braves hesitant to give Freeman, their stable centerpiece, a sixth year on their proposed five-year offer? Controlling him through age 37 is fine, but age 38 is where things cross a line?

Plus, the team has Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies locked down on long-term on extensions that feel as sketchy as any deal in recent baseball history (team-friendly is an understatement). Atlanta management can’t bite one bullet and get their offer past $135 million to bring the band back together?

It’s unclear, at this point, how much of the Yankees-Freeman connection is real and how much is manufactured for leverage purposes. It’s true, at least, that the Yankees might be more willing than the Braves to extend to a sixth year, though they’d drop the dollar amount in the process — it’s what they did with DJ LeMahieu’s deal, after all.

Freeman’s always felt like a Brave, but if Atlanta can snag Georgia-born Matt Olson and leave Freeman out in the wind to flail to either the Yanks or Dodgers? That might be a minor upgrade, and it’ll certainly cost less cash.

Hope that answers Cameron Maybin’s question, as weird as it may seem.

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