Dodgers `super excited' to add Freeman to `Monstars' lineup

GLENDALE, ARIZ. » In the clubhouse at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday morning, reliever Jimmy Nelson joked about how occupied the Dodgers’ front office has been this week.

“They’re busy trying to hoard all the talent, create a ‘Space Jam’ super team,” Nelson quipped.

He wasn’t joking, after all. News broke Wednesday night that the Dodgers had signed free-agent first baseman Freddie Freeman, leading shortstop Trea Turner to have the same animated image.

“It’s what I said to somebody last night,” Turner said of his immediate reaction. “They said, ‘You guys got Freddie Freeman?’ I said ‘The Monstars.’ I just responded with ‘The Monstars.’

“The way they structured the team and they spend the money, but then they can trade and they can draft and develop, it seems like no matter what they do, it seems like the right move. You tip your cap to Andrew (Friedman) and all the guys in the front office that make these decisions because they put us in a good chance to win every single year. He’s gonna be a big piece for us.”

Outfielder AJ Pollock was thrilled to welcome the 2020 National League MVP to the mix.

“I’m super excited, obviously. We got Freddie. He’s an unbelievable player,” Pollock said. “I got to watch him all these years. Now he’s going to be a member of this clubhouse. This lineup is going to be awesome.”

For infielder Max Muncy, “it’s nonstop amazement that we’re able to make moves like this ... and yet at the same time, we still have the best farm system in baseball.

“I think it just speaks to Andrew and the job he can do that we can replenish every single year and still have the prospects that we have,” he said. “It’s a pretty incredible job . ... It amazes me every time.”

Freeman is just the latest ‘Monstar’ piece acquired by the Dodgers, following in the recent footsteps of Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer and Turner himself (with Manny Machado and Yu Darvish performing in cameo roles during previous seasons).

On many days now, eight of the nine Dodgers’ position players will be former All-stars (with only catcher Will Smith yet to make his first). When Clayton Kershaw starts, they could have four former MVPS in the starting lineup (Kershaw and Freeman plus outfielders Betts and Cody Bellinger).

“On paper, it’s a great ballclub. The lineup is as good a lineup as I have ever seen,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, acknowledging that he had tinkered with some potential Freeman-infused lineup combinations in “recent days” as the signing seemed to become more of a possibility.

“It was late last night that we kind of got some things done and finalized,” Roberts said. “To wake up this morning and go, ‘Man – did that really happen?’ It was like that Mookie Betts (trade) thing all over again for me personally. I convinced myself that it was real, it did happen.

“Once he gets here and I get to see him don that Dodger uniform, it’ll really be real for all of us.”

Freeman was taking his physical on Thursday in Los Angeles and Roberts said he expects his new first baseman to be in camp Friday.

He will arrive with glowing recommendations.

“Freddie Freeman — he’s the best in the business,” said reliever Shane Greene, a teammate of Freeman for parts of three seasons in Atlanta who is now in camp with the Dodgers as a nonroster invitee.

“Absolute gamer, you’ll never know if he’s dealing with any injury or anything because he’ll play through it. He’s going to be out there 160 times. Professional atbat no matter what. “M-v-free, he’s the guy.” A Florida native, Greene followed the Braves growing up and he feels the pain of Braves fans who thought Freeman would never leave them.

“That’s a touchy subject obviously,” Greene said. “I grew up watching Chipper Jones and the Braves. Chipper was my guy growing up. Everybody kind of thought Freddie was another Chipper. Definitely a little surprising (that he left Atlanta). But I love that I get to be his teammate still.”

The signing of Freeman for six years and $162 million pushes the Dodgers’ projected payroll for 2022 to around $280 million, deep into the third tier of MLB’S Competitive Balance Tax Threshold. After a winter spent wrangling over the finances of the game and a spring of personnel moves by some teams aimed more at shedding money than being competitive, the Dodgers’ approach is certainly appreciated inside their clubhouse.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Kershaw said. “I mean, since they (the Guggenheim ownership group) got here in 2012, we’ve spent money. We’ve gone and done it. Some years have been a little different than others, but I would say the majority of the time they’ve been pretty consistent with their actions and proving to us that they really want to do whatever it takes to win.

“I’m thankful for that. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back. It’s one of the reasons we all wanted to be in this clubhouse for that opportunity. You still see what’s going on with other teams right now, so it’s just even more of a reason to be happy to be here.”

The money spent does not come with guarantees, however. The Dodgers are the fifth team in MLB history with as many as four former MVPS, joining the 1996 Boston Red Sox, 1982 California Angels, 1978 Cincinnati Reds — and last year’s Dodgers.

But none of those previous four went on to win the World Series that year — and the Monstars came up short in their big game.

“We have a position player lineup of All-stars, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to win,” Kershaw said. “We have to come together as a team because there are some things in culture and chemistry and things like that that you have to work on. You can’t just assume because we have nine of the best players in the game running out there every day that we’re going to win. We have to work on that and we will. We’ll be good at it.”

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner agreed that a paper tiger can only go so far.

“I don’t think it changes how we have to go about things,” Turner said. “One of the things I love most about baseball is that it doesn’t matter what it says on paper. You still have to go out and play the game. So, it obviously is an outstanding addition on paper. But we’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us and we’ve got to go out every night and do the little things to win ballgames.”