Pros and cons of the Braves letting Dansby Swanson walk

Only time will tell if the Atlanta Braves made the right decision letting Dansby Swanson walk.

There are consequences to be had, good and bad, with the Atlanta Braves letting hometown hero Dansby Swanson walk in his free agency.

Although he starred collegiately at Vanderbilt and was drafted No. 1 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the rest of Swanson’s baseball career up to this point revolved around Atlanta and the Braves. The former Marietta Blue Devil grew up minutes from Truist Park. He was always going to have to take a hometown discount to stay, but I guess he was not like Chipper Jones…

So Swanson takes his talents to The Windy City to play on the North Side for the Chicago Cubs. This puts him in the same metropolis his new wife Mallory Pugh, who plays professionally for the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars.

For the next seven years, Swanson will be the star on the marquee for The Marquee Network, as the Cubbies hope to grow up from Lovable Losers into NL beasts again.

Swanson walking was a divisive topic for Braves Country, but let’s discuss the pros and cons of it.

Why Atlanta Braves were right to let Dansby Swanson walk in his free agency

Because Swanson was a very popular player and one of us, to be quite frank, it is hard to see the silver lining in his departure, at least initially. Truthfully, there is more than just a silver lining to be had here with Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos letting Swanson walk. This was never about paying him more money, but not having him on the books for anything longer than six years.

Given that Swanson is pushing 30 already, Anthopoulos was not willing to let his skill set rapidly decline at a huge number in the back end of a massive deal. It is the same logic that was applied in letting another former popular player in Freddie Freeman walk to the Los Angeles Dodgers in his free agency last winter. Anthopoulos will make moves in the best interest of the team, long-term.

So with that in mind, not signing Swanson frees up more financial capital long-term to extend players like ace pitcher Max Fried, as well as have the resources to trade for someone along the lines of Pittsburgh Pirates star outfielder Bryan Reynolds. A former Vanderbilt star himself has requested a trade out of town, and the Braves are arguably the favorites to land him in a trade.

Overall, you can just kind of sense there is a follow-up move to be made by the Braves. Yes, trading for Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy was awesome, but that meant William Contreras had to go to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of last week’s three-team deal. Atlanta needs to address its new void at shortstop, as well as look at potentially upgrading out in left field.

Not committing to Swanson long-term affords Anthopoulos more capital to be spent elsewhere.

Why Atlanta Braves were wrong to let Dansby Swanson walk in his free agency

Emotionally, no doubt about it, this sucks as a Braves fan. Everybody in Metro Atlanta wanted to grow up to be the next Chipper, and Swanson briefly got to be that guy. While I am glad he got his money and he and his wife can live in the same city together, this is two years in a row where Anthopoulos let a huge fan favorite walk intra-league in the wake of the 2021 World Series title.

While Swanson did a fantastic job filling Freeman’s locker room leader role last season, is Austin Riley ready to be that guy now? Travis d’Arnaud could be used in that role as well, but his time with the Braves is probably winding down as well, especially after Anthopoulos traded for Murphy over from the A’s. Yes, these intangibles matter a ton over 162 games, but there is much more to this…

Atlanta does have one of the deepest rosters in baseball, but there is a void over at shortstop. In theory, Vaughn Grissom could be the Braves’ future cornerstone there, but the other Troublemaker is still very much a work in progress defensively. Moreover, Atlanta did not sign one of the other big free agent shortstops in Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Carlos Correa, all going to NL teams.

Not only did Atlanta get worse at the position, but four teams in the National League improved with Philadelphia (Turner), San Diego (Bogaerts), San Francisco (Correa) and now Chicago (Swanson). The Braves’ championship window is still open, but the Senior Circuit was the more competitive league, and it just got even tougher with all four star shortstops changing teams.

Atlanta is losing a hometown hero, an All-Star, a Gold Glover and a locker room leader in Swanson.

Did the Atlanta Braves make the right call in letting Dansby Swanson walk?

Let’s not be stupid here. It is way too early to tell. However, the decision to let Swanson walk falls entirely on Anthopoulos. Swanson may have outplayed his market value in Atlanta, but we all would have thought he would have played for the Braves for the better part of his career after being traded over from the Diamondbacks organization for a bag of baseballs in a historic heist.

Anthopoulos’ decision will not only be judged by what Swanson does in Chicagoland, but by the corresponding moves he makes, or doesn’t make, to counterbalance losing such an important player for this franchise. In truth, Swanson picked a fantastic time to have a career year. He is not the first player to reach the pinnacle during his contract season, and he is not going to be the last.

By going to the Cubs, Swanson faces immense pressure to be the peak version of what he was with the Braves, despite not having the necessary talent around him yet. Yes, he could have a phenomenal career in Chicago, but Swanson was not this type of player for the Braves until probably the 60-game COVID season. That is when he made his charge towards superstardom.

Ultimately, this call by Anthopoulos will be judged by what NL team wins a World Series championship first between the Braves and the Cubs. Atlanta has the upper hand to do that for sure, but Chicago is not going to be down for all that much longer. The Braves are still chasing 1995 without Anthopoulos, so I think Atlanta fans need to chill out for a second and be patient.

With your heart, this was the wrong move, but with your brain, it may be the right one in the end.