Braves sign new 1B Olson to $168 million, 8-year contract

ATLANTA (AP) — After cutting ties with Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta Braves have signed new first baseman Matt Olson to a $168 million, eight-year contract.

Olson was not eligible for free agency until after the 2023 season. But the World Series champions quickly locked down the 27-year-old slugger through at least 2029. The deal also includes a $20 million club option for 2030 with no buyout.

The Braves dealt four top prospects to Oakland for Olson, and quickly signed the 2021 All-Star to the biggest deal in team history.

In other developments from spring training:

— The Chicago Cubs have finalized a $4 million, one-year contract with slick-fielding 32-year-old shortstop Andrelton Simmons. His .981 career fielding percentage ranks third best in baseball among active shortstops.

— The Phillies finalized one-year contracts with right-handed reliever Jeurys Familia and left-handed reliever Brad Hand. Hand struggled last season in Washington and Toronto but finished strong with the Mets. Familia led the majors in 2016 with 51 saves. He has only 43 saves since 2016.

— Yankees star Aaron Judge refused to directly answer a question about his vaccine status Tuesday amid a requirement in New York City that requires every private sector employee be inoculated against the coronavirus. The Yankees open their season at home against the rival Boston Red Sox on April 7.

MLB-NEWS-RULES EXPERIMENTS

Atlantic League, MLB tweaking “double-hook DH” rules trial

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Major League Baseball is tweaking a rules experiment in the independent Atlantic League that forced teams to forfeit their designated hitter when removing a starting pitcher from the game. The double-hook designated hitter was first tested in the Atlantic League last season, with teams losing their DH when they removed their starter.

MLB and the Atlantic League say that this year, if the starter completes at least five innings, teams can retain their DH for the rest of the game.

The DH was formally added to the National League as part of a new labor contract agreed with players Thursday.