Major League Baseball has been locked out for close to three months. Before the lockout, the Mets were one of the most aggressive teams in baseball, signing Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Max Scherzer.

Transactions have been frozen since December 2nd, but reports are still flying. Just recently, Buster Olney hopped on The Michael Kay Show and said that the Mets checked in on World Series champion, free-agent first basemen Freddie Freeman. While Freeman has been the face of the Braves his whole career, there has been a whirlwind of reports that the Braves may move on from their star player.

“This was the most interesting thing that I heard. There’s a perception in the industry that Freddie Freeman is not going back to the Braves. Last summer, that was assumed, like ‘Yeah, he’ll eventually go back there.’ Now, they don’t believe that, and here’s an interesting thing. One of the teams that checked in on the Freddie Freeman availability before December 2nd was the Mets.” – Buster Olney

This would not be good for the Phillies. Yes, the Mets are always going to be the Mets. They head into Spring Training as one of those teams to “keep an eye on”, and then they play average baseball the whole season and we get to laugh at them.

But Freddie Freeman isn’t just any normal free-agent signing. Freeman is one of the best hitters in baseball, probably the best first basemen in baseball, and is coming off one of the better seasons of his career. Freeman slashed .300/.393/.503 in 159 regular-season games in 2021, crushing 31 HRs, and knocking in 83 RBIs. He cracked a 1.000+ OPS in the playoffs and won his first-ever World Series Ring as well.

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It’s still shocking that the Braves are *potentially* going to let Freeman walk. The star first-basemen is 32 years old, but his game is still exactly where it was years ago. The MVP, 5x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove Winner has already hit free agency, with his 8-year, $135 million contract expiring at the end of last season. Freeman had one of the best contracts in all of baseball over the last decade, but with all that he’s accomplished, he’s set to make a big chunk of money from whatever team decides to pursue him.

Although it would not be ideal, it’s tough to not see the Mets going after the star after hearing reports. New York has been a team that has always tried to go all in and has failed miserably year after year. After their big signing of Max Scherzer, it seems that Steve Cohen isn’t worried about money anymore.

Matt Olson was a name that was reported to possibly fill Freeman’s role in Atlanta, according to Ken Rosenthal. The Mets do have Pete Alonso over at first base, but with the universal-DH being implemented this upcoming season, the Mets would move Alonso to DH, and play Freeman where he belongs, at first base.

Although nothing is official, or even close to being official, the Mets and Freddie Freeman is something to keep an eye on. The Mets will still find a way to blow their opportunity, but gaining Freddie Freeman puts them in a position that frankly, I don’t want to see. Major League Baseball has two days to figure everything out, or regular-season baseball games will officially start getting postponed.

Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports