was Freddie's rhetoric about being honored to do all these great things in a Braves uniform, for perhaps the last time. I can't recall a player ever doing that before. First off, I shouldn't have mention how nice and classy Freddie is, but I will, just so you understand my tone. At any rate, he repeatedly added these caveats, which suggested to me he had this attitude that he was dead set on getting what he deserved/was going to earn some respect (of course we know he was respected)/was going to play hard ball on a forced level. It seemed to me the entire time that pride was going to be an issue here. Pride is a funny thing. It makes you dig your heels in, in spite of what your heart is telling you to do and how your body feels... on a physical level... but when you are so committed to saving face, out of principle, you'll likely truly never get what you want and you'll always be depriving yourself because you can't give in because of the hard line you drew. It's a situation, regardless of the outcome where you are holding yourself hostage, and a true win is impossible. In Freddie's case he's dealing with a (fairly handsome) consolation prize.
Dude unknowingly set himself up for a no-win in a way. Even if he got what he wanted, he was going to cost his team on some level. Usually when guys, who don't need the money, but are doing something out of a selfish principle (no two ways about it) put their foot down because they demand theirs, over a number that isn't life-changing/lifestyle altering money for them, but would be for their teammates, they need to ask themselves do they need to pretend they are operating on team-first or me-first mindset? I'm confounded by Freddie's situation because no other Brave in my memory has been so adamantly a team-first guy. The question is does that mindset change for a guy who is worth tens of millions and possibly nine figures after your big money contract is in the table? Do you suspend that and go back to being a team guy after you have deprived your team of improving away from securing your contract that doesn't make the monocle or Persian cat you're petting anymore extravagant?
Dunno... but Freddie ended up being so glued to the hard line itself that he actually lost leverage and didn't get the net payment he wanted or thr team he wanted to play for. The mindset he created before the season was even over choked out fluid variables later on. And he ended up aquiring an asset that he didn't expect or want... endless regret
Dude unknowingly set himself up for a no-win in a way. Even if he got what he wanted, he was going to cost his team on some level. Usually when guys, who don't need the money, but are doing something out of a selfish principle (no two ways about it) put their foot down because they demand theirs, over a number that isn't life-changing/lifestyle altering money for them, but would be for their teammates, they need to ask themselves do they need to pretend they are operating on team-first or me-first mindset? I'm confounded by Freddie's situation because no other Brave in my memory has been so adamantly a team-first guy. The question is does that mindset change for a guy who is worth tens of millions and possibly nine figures after your big money contract is in the table? Do you suspend that and go back to being a team guy after you have deprived your team of improving away from securing your contract that doesn't make the monocle or Persian cat you're petting anymore extravagant?
Dunno... but Freddie ended up being so glued to the hard line itself that he actually lost leverage and didn't get the net payment he wanted or thr team he wanted to play for. The mindset he created before the season was even over choked out fluid variables later on. And he ended up aquiring an asset that he didn't expect or want... endless regret
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