The Atlanta Braves are going to have to fill big shoes at shortstop. Here are some underrated options the Braves could pursue to replace Dansby Swanson.
After seven years playing for his hometown team, Dansby Swanson is moving on to a larger deal with the Chicago Cubs. With the Atlanta Braves, Swanson won a World Series, a Gold Glove Award, and was named to an All-Star team. He can leave proud of what he did for Georgia baseball.
Though Swanson wasn’t quite good enough to be considered one of the best shortstops of all time for Atlanta, there is no doubt that he is one of the best, if not the best at the position since the 90s.
He produced 411 RBI, 102 home runs, and an OPS of .738 during his time in Atlanta. He leaves significant shoes to fill, and the Braves might need to get creative in order to fill them considering the best options at the position are off the table.
Even if the stars were still available, it would be incongruent with Atlanta’s mission to sign them. Atlanta has secured its talent on affordable deals, so it’s not a complete shock that they were unwilling to put themselves in the hunt for some of the star names at the position like Xander Bogaerts or Carlos Correa.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t talent to be found and value-driven moves available for the Braves, though. Let’s look at some dark horse names Atlanta should consider to backfill Swanson’s role.
There are some big moves the Braves could consider — such as maybe hopping in on a trade the Cubs could have made for a Javier Baez reunion — but what are the smaller, yet effective moves that are options for Atlanta to pursue?
Here are three they could mull over, in no particular order.
Dark horse candidates for Braves to replace Dansby Swanson: Elvis Andrus
One of the best shortstops left is Elvis Andrus.
If the Braves go the direction of Andrus, it’s not necessarily a long-term solution. Andrus, a 14-year veteran, was released by the Oakland A’s last year and picked up by the Chicago White Sox. Following his uniform switch, he put up really strong numbers good enough to be featured on the MLB’s list of free agents to make sure you don’t forget about.
Andrus is likely a one- or two-year stopgap solution to Swanson’s departure. He gives the Braves a known, veteran presence and can be a mentor for Vaughn Grissom who could wind up being the next in-house development project for the Braves to ultimately be Swanson’s long-term replacement.
With the White Sox last year, he slashed .271/.309/.464.