“On June 29, I commented on alleged circumstances surrounding Freddie Freeman’s negotiations with the Atlanta Braves and his relationship with his former agent Casey Close,” Gottlieb mentioned. “While I always strive to report accurate information, I prematurely reported on these events and simply got it wrong.”
The scenario began with Freeman’s offseason choice to depart the Atlanta Braves and be part of the Dodgers on a six-year, $162 million contract. The deal turned heads as a result of Freeman beforehand spent all 12 of his MLB seasons with Atlanta, whereas enjoying a outstanding function in its 2021 World Series run.
Close, one of many greatest brokers within the sport and a part of Freeman’s workforce at Excel, reportedly engaged in an extended negotiation with the Braves that ended with Atlanta stepping into a distinct path. On March 14, with Freeman nonetheless in the marketplace, Atlanta traded for Oakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson and signed him to an eight-year, $168 million contract extension. Three days later, Freeman joined the Dodgers.
Then, in late June, because the Dodgers met the Braves for a three-game collection in Atlanta, points started to come up as Freeman, making his first look in Atlanta as a visiting participant, was visibly emotional all through the opening sport of the collection. Four days later, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Freeman had parted methods with Close and Excel. Olney additionally said that these near Freeman believed “his weekend-long emotion was tied, to some degree, to lingering anger and sadness that his negotiations concluded with him playing with a team other than the club that initially drafted him.”
Close mentioned within the mid-July lawsuit that the Braves introduced Freeman with three, nine-figure contract presents relationship again to March 2021, together with a last $135 million proposal on Aug. 4. All have been rejected by Freeman.
Following Olney’s reporting, Gottlieb, a Fox Sports Radio host, despatched a tweet claiming that Close by no means informed Freeman about the Braves’ last supply and Freeman was unaware till visiting Atlanta. When he was informed, Gottlieb mentioned, Freeman fired Close.
“Casey Close never told Freddie Freeman about the Braves final offer, that is why Freeman fired him,” Gottlieb wrote within the now-deleted tweet. “He found out in Atlanta this weekend. It isn’t that rare to have happen in MLB, but it happened — Close knew Freddie would have taken the ATL deal.”
Close disputed Gottlieb’s narrative the next day. He and Excel later sued the sports activities analyst, claiming his tweets broken the plaintiffs’ names, companies and reputations and that “Close has received death threats from people believed to be Atlanta Braves fans.”
Following Gottlieb’s apology, Close launched a press release by means of Excel.
“From the onset, we were clear that Mr. Gottlieb’s tweet was wholly inaccurate and that we would seek legal remedies to set the record straight. He has retracted his statement in its entirety and acknowledged that he got the story wrong. We consider this matter closed.”