Braves have no excuse not to pony up for Dansby Swanson with latest Liberty Media earnings

With the latest Braves revenue reported by the ownership group, Liberty Media, Atlanta has no excuse not to give Dansby Swanson the bag. 

It’s a crucial offseason for the Atlanta Braves after their run to defend the World Series crown was bitterly cut short by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. But perhaps the biggest focus for everyone is what the team will do with shortstop Dansby Swanson as he’s set to hit free agency.

There has never been a question that general manager Alex Anthopoulos and the front office are going to make a push to re-sign one of the key figures and leaders in the clubhouse, but as Swanson hits a lucrative free agency market, the worry has been that he’ll be too expensive for the team to sign.

That, however, shouldn’t be a worry given the latest Liberty Media — who has a majority ownership stake in the franchise — earnings reports. According to the report, in just Q3 alone, the Braves brought in a whopping $238 million in baseball revenue, which is after earning $247 million in Q2.

Braves have no excuse not to pay Dansby Swanson what he’s worth

Make no mistake, the Braves’ ability to spend isn’t 100% directly tied to the baseball revenue that Liberty Media earned in 2022. At the same time, though, this is a team that has often operated on a budget and it’s clear that the ownership group has been doing well and can afford to spend, especially for a team set up to contend for the World Series for years and years to come.

Swanson isn’t expected to be the most expensive free agent shortstop on the market with Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts all demanding a big price tag. Even still, the veteran former No. 1 overall pick is going to be expensive because Atlanta didn’t work out a trademark early extension with him.

They have the money and the position with their recent success (and assumed future success) to spend and give Swanson what he deserves in order to not low-ball him.

This isn’t to say that Atlanta is completely out of options if they were to fail to re-sign Swanson this offseason. Not only could they potentially shuffle their current roster and do something like move youngster Vaughn Grissom to shortstop with Ozzie Albies reassuming his role at second base, but they could even explore other options in free agency, such as Turner, or one of the other marquee players. Because again, they have the money.

But Braves fans undoubtedly would want to keep one of the team’s leaders in Swanson to keep this good thing going. And maybe Swanson leaves his hometown team because he wants a change. However, the reason he doesn’t come back to Atlanta should not be because the organization doesn’t want to drop the bag.