Braves have basically ignored Dansby Swanson all offseason

Former Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson has hit the free agency market, and the organization seemingly didn’t think twice about him.

The Atlanta Braves have been a highly-competitive team over the past few seasons, especially since their World Series win in 2021. Star shortstop Dansby Swanson has been with them through it all, but they seemingly didn’t think twice when he hit the free agency market.

According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the Braves haven’t had any ‘legitimate’ negotiations with Swanson since the offseason began.

It’s certainly interesting they haven’t been after Swanson too much considering he’s one of the four star shortstops that hit the market this offseason. He had one of his best seasons defensively, and while he wasn’t the most powerful hitter in the lineup, he still had an above-average season offensively. Swanson made his first All-Star team.

They did offer him a six-year deal with an AAV between $16 million and $17 million, but he turned it down as he could probably make a bit more.

The Braves are in a tricky spot now with Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts getting signed for lengthy and expensive contracts. Turner got signed for 11 years worth $300 million with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Bogaerts got signed for 11 years worth $280 million with the San Diego Padres.

It’s still possible the Braves will sign him as shortstops are going quickly off the market and he still remains, but if they don’t, they may be in trouble.

The Braves are quickly running out of options for shortstops

With Bogaerts and Turner both off the market, their options are to either re-sign Swanson or sign Carlos Correa. Correa is bound to be the more expensive option as he opted out of a contract that would’ve given him $70.2 million over the next two years, according to Bowman. Atlanta could also replace Swanson from within, making 21-year-old Vaughn Grissom their full-time shortstop.

Correa had an extremely strong arm this season with a wFB of 15.6, the second-best of his career. Swanson’s was slightly higher at 16.0, but Correa’s has consistently been much higher than Swanson’s over the course of their careers.

If they don’t sign either Swanson or Correa, they can go internal for a starter, and Grissom seems to be the most likely replacement. However, this is a risky move as he made his MLB debut this past season and has only played a total of 41 games. He doesn’t have nearly as strong of an arm as Swanson or Correa either, with a wFB of 4.3.

Atlanta is great with development, so there’s hope that they’ll continue to be successful without a star shortstop. However, they’d be best off to sign one as it’d be less of a gamble and would provide good depth.