Braves best offer to Dansby Swanson never came close

The Atlanta Braves were about $70 million short on their best possible offer for shortstop Dansby Swanson, who signed with the Chicago Cubs instead.

Dansby Swanson’s wife, Mallory Pugh, plays for the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars, so it makes since that his recent marriage would coincide with a major career decision.

It’s clear now the Braves didn’t value Swanson at as high of a price tag as his market value. The Chicago Cubs signed Swanson to a seven-year, $177 million deal on Saturday.

Atlanta made arguably their best contract offer to Swanson midseason which, according to The Athletic’s David O’Brien, 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, as the organization did not make Swanson their top priority. If anything, they spent more time preparing his eventual replacement.

Braves never made a legitimate offer to Dansby Swanson

Much like with Freddie Freeman a year ago, the Braves were confident in their ability to sign a replacement for Dansby Swanson at a cheaper rate. Rather than re-signing Swanson, Atlanta traded for catcher Sean Murphy of the Oakland Athletics, all the while training Vaughn Grissom to make a transition to full-time shortstop.

Grissom, at just 21 years old, has been tabbed the shortstop of the future. You can expect Anthopolous to begin negotiations with Grissom’s agent on a long-term, team friendly contract similar to the likes of Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña before him. This is just what the Braves do.

If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Atlanta won a World Series just two years ago, and while some of the core members of that locker room are now gone in Freeman and Swanson, the Braves are confident it is the system they have in place, rather than a mere locker room presence, that makes them successful.

Odds are, it’s a little bit of both.