Snitker: Re-signing Freeman 'may not happen'

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker is hopeful free-agent first baseman Freddie Freeman will return to the club in 2022 but acknowledges his departure is a possibility, he told The Athletic's Jeff Schultz.

"Do I want Freddie back? Absolutely," Snitker said. "Why wouldn't I? But it may not happen. It's the way business is. But I'm not freaking out about it right now. Last year, we lost player A, and we kept going. We lost player B, C, D, E, F, and we just kept going. It's what we do."

The 2018 National League Manager of the Year admits the ongoing MLB lockout makes the Freeman situation trickier to navigate.

"I think the last time I talked to Freddie was after we got back to Atlanta (from the last World Series game in Houston) - maybe at the parade. It's hard," Snitker said.

Freeman is one of the top remaining free agents who didn't ink a new contract before the lockout began on Dec. 2.

The 32-year-old has spent his entire 12-year career with the Braves and was instrumental in Atlanta's 2021 World Series victory. He had a .304/.420/.625 slash line with five homers and 11 RBIs in 16 postseason games.

The five-time All-Star ranks top-10 in Braves' history in several categories, including games played (1,565), hits (1,704), homers (271), RBIs (941), and OPS (.893).