The Atlanta Braves’ best possible offer for shortstop Dansby Swanson fell about $70 million short, and he instead signed with the Chicago Cubs.
The Braves’ best offer to Dansby Swanson was never competitive
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Dansby Swanson’s wife, Mallory Pugh, is a member of the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars, so it stands to reason that his recent marriage would coincide with a significant career decision.
It’s evident that the Braves didn’t value Swanson as highly as his market value. Swanson was signed to a seven-year, $177 million contract by the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
According to The Athletic’s David O’Brien, Atlanta made arguably their best contract offer to Swanson midseason, which wasn’t even in the same ballpark:
“The Braves made an approximate $100 million offer to Swanson at some point after the All-Star break, and that would have been enough to re-sign him — if they’d made that offer a year ago.”
Swanson had to initiate contact with Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos this offseason because the organization did not take priority Swanson. If anything, they spent longer preparing his eventual replacement.
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The Braves never made a genuine offer to Dansby Swanson
The Braves were confident they would be able to sign a replacement for Dansby Swanson at a lower cost, as they were with Freddie Freeman a year ago.
Rather than re-signing Swanson, Atlanta decided to trade for Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy while having trained Vaughn Grissom to be a full-time shortstop.
Grissom, who is only 21 years old, has been dubbed the future shortstop.
Anthopolous is expected to begin negotiations with Grissom’s agent on a long-term, team-friendly contract, similar to what Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acua did before him. This is precisely what the Braves do.
If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Atlanta won the World Series just two years ago, and while some of the key members of that locker room, such as Freeman and Swanson, are no longer with the team, the Braves are confident that it is the system they have in place, rather than a mere locker room presence, that will keep them successful.
