Dodgers: Drama with Freddie Freeman’s Agent Finally Resolved
Back in late June, as armchair psychologists masquerading as sportswriters diagnosed Freddie Freeman with all sorts of emotional disorders because he had the audacity to develop strong bonds with the city of Atlanta over the course of 15 years, a new wrinkle emerged in the seemingly endless drama related to Freeman’s abrupt departure from the Braves.
Doug Gottlieb, a former college basketball player and current basketball pundit, somehow got a “scoop” on alleged misconduct on the part of Casey Close, whom Freeman had fired as his agent the day before.
In a since-deleted tweet, Gottlieb said:
“Casey Close never told Freddie Freeman about the Braves final offer, that is why Freeman fired him. 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, whose reputation is pretty important to him as an agent, filed a lawsuit against Gottlieb two weeks later, saying the pundit had “falsely and recklessly” defamed him.
Agent Casey Close sued radio host Doug Gottlieb for libel Thursday, alleging in a complaint that Gottlieb defamed him and Excel Sports Management in a tweet regarding the contract negotiations of Dodgers star Freddie Freeman, according to court documents obtained by ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 14, 2022
And that was where we stood for nearly two months, until today, when Gottlieb admitted to having falsely and recklessly defaming Close.
"I prematurely reported on these events and simply got it wrong."
Doug Gottlieb, who is being sued by agent Casey Close for his tweet about the Freddie Freeman negotiations, says "the conduct I alleged did not occur and there is no credible basis for stating that it did." https://t.co/L6KCbMRq4E
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 7, 2022
Close, for his part, seems to be taking the high road, saying that with Gottlieb’s retraction and apology, “we consider this matter closed.”
Statement on behalf of Casey Close: https://t.co/9t7rHYCpeE pic.twitter.com/MyqLczqbMO
— excel sports (@excelsm) September 7, 2022
In summary, a bunch of lawyers wrote a lot of words to say “Sorry, I screwed up” and “No biggie, all’s well that ends well.” Hopefully there are some lessons learned on Gottlieb’s side about verifying your source before you slander a high-powered attorney, and there’s definitely a lesson for all of us about believing someone just because he has a radio show entirely unrelated to the subject he’s blathering about.
But most importantly, Freddie Freeman is having the time of his life playing for the best team in baseball in Los Angeles.
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The Hollywood Dodgers are the best team money can buy. Take away the All Star free agents and what have you got? Lucky to make the post season. They have been trying to buy the World Series trophy every year for over a decade and they struggle because of karma! Hillariously pathetic orgainization.
The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season with an all-time-high $310.6 million payroll for purposes of the luxury tax and are on track to pay a record tax of nearly $47 million, according to figures compiled by Major League Baseball.
Sir. The only big signing in the Dodger clubhouse is Freeman, and he doesn’t even touch $200 million, which is a bargain today’s MLB market. The Dodgers gave up Alex Verdugo for Mookie Betts, so it cost them something valuable. The players with huge contracts are players developed in their farm system or had been DFA’d, and signed to be Utility Role Players. Explain yourself better.
He’s definitely a butthurt Padres fan…
Here’s what we know for sure. With Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers have the best top of the batting order threesome in the history of baseball. Will Smith is more than holding his own in the 4 spot. JT is finally starting to hit like JT. And Muncy has hit three home runs in the last two games. The Dodgers could be very solid for the postseason if this continues. Maybe Taylor will find his stroke too.
I truly hope the best for CT3; that would see him make the post season roster. But if he can’t find it……..
As for Belli, until he truly listens to his coaches, he’s useless. Defense is great but his bat is a black hole. Needs to start looking for a better approach/stance at the plate