Braves nearly altered course of Yankees history after Freddie Freeman free agency

Remember the Atlanta Braves-Freddie Freeman free agency saga back after the 2021 season? Atlanta had just won the World Series and their best player was on the open market. New York Yankees fans badly wanted Freeman in pinstripes, too.

In the end, Freeman landed with the Dodgers and the Braves traded for Matt Olson in a deal with the Athletics. Everybody won ... except the Yankees.

A new report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reveals that the Braves tried to sign Anthony Rizzo in 2022. Based on the speed at which Atlanta traded for Olson after free-agent negotiations fell through with Freeman, it's always been assumed that Olson was Atlanta's clear and obvious backup plan at first base that offseason.

But Rosenthal's latest intel suggests it may have been Rizzo (albeit on a one-year deal, or none at all). Of course, had the Braves been successful in their pursuit of Rizzo during that '21-22 offseason, he wouldn't have played three more seasons in the Bronx (most of which were bad).

Anthony Rizzo's Yankees career almost never happened if the Braves pulled off a deal

Rizzo, meanwhile, had been acquired by the Yanks at the 2021 deadline and got off to a sweltering start in pinstripes. He ended up hitting .249 with eight homers in 49 games for New York that year. The Yankees re-signed Rizzo to a two-year, $32 million deal, and when he opted out of the second year of that deal the following offseason, New York re-signed Rizzo to a two-year, $40 million deal (with an option for 2025), which ended up being Rizzo's last MLB contract.

Following the 2024 season, the Yanks declined Rizzo's option for 2025 and paid him a $6 million buyout, making him a free agent. Rizzo didn't sign on anywhere else that season, and he announced his retirement in September '25 with three All-Star nods, four Gold Gloves, and a 2016 World Series title on his résumé.

Rizzo's Yankees tenure was fraught with injuries, but it wasn't altogether unproductive when he did make it on the field. He tallied a not-terrible .735 OPS in 370 regular-season games for New York, along with 60 of his 303 career home runs. In 20 playoff games for the Yankees, Rizzo's OPS rose to .878.

Could the Yankees have traded for Matt Olson in 2022?

The Rosenthal reveal had plenty of Yankees fans killing Brian Cashman in the comments for not trading for Olson that offseason. Olson has made two All-Star teams with Atlanta since then and was fourth in NL MVP voting in 2023, his second year with the Braves.

It's a bit of a stretch for fans to assume that Olson was available to the Yanks or on their radar just because he ended up switching teams. That being said, Cashman has been known to pass up good opportunities for a star acquisition in recent years.

There's likely still a lot about the Freeman-Rizzo-Olson situation in 2022 Atlanta that we don't know. The entire Freeman negotiation process was unexpected, for one thing. It got to the point where Freeman's agent gave Atlanta's front office an ultimatum with a one-hour timeline (the point of contention was a sixth year on Freeman's potential deal), which the Braves walked away from.

In any event, the Yankees were obviously impacted by the Braves' dealings with Freeman and Rizzo. The two excellent franchises are certainly intertwined in more ways than one. Zoom ahead to the present season, and it's not crazy to imagine a potential Braves-Yankees World Series matchup come October.

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