If you look up “franchise player” in the dictionary, it’s just a picture of Freddie Freeman and his amazingly perfect teeth smiling back at you.
For basically the last decade, with Chipper Jones’ career winding down and Ronald Acuña Jr’s career just getting going, Freeman has been the best player on the team. He’s the common thread that’s connected a playoff run, and then a painful rebuild, followed by another playoff run, and now finally, a World Series Championship. Freddie has been the constant. The superstar. By every measure he’s been a franchise player.
Now, he’s a free agent.