Dansby Swanson sends emotional goodbye to Braves, Atlanta

The Braves were unable to re-sign Dansby Swanson, who inked a lucrative deal with the Cubs, and the shortstop sent an emotional goodbye message to Atlanta.

Though it became expected after a certain point, Atlanta Braves fans hoped that the organization would find a way to keep Dansby Swanson around as the shortstop hit free agency this offseason.  That didn’t come to pass. Swanson signed a monster deal to head to the Chicago Cubs, thus breaking the hearts of many fans in the Metro.

Until Tuesday night, we hadn’t heard Swanson completely address leaving the Braves after spending more than six seasons with the team not far from his hometown of Kennesaw, GA. However, he pulled at the heartstrings as he addressed it.

Swanson posted to Instagram on Tuesday night with a goodbye message, both written and with a 3-minute tribute video, that will surely get fans in their feelings.

Dansby Swanson sends emotional goodbye to Braves, fans

The video itself was remarkably poignant as it began with Swanson’s arrival in Atlanta after being traded in December 2015 while then highlighting his great moments and clear love for the franchise, city and fans. And that was only made more touching when accompanied with his written message.

In his caption on Instagram, he wrote:

"Thank you Atlanta. After being traded to the Braves, it was the first step of an amazing journey that God had in store for me. The last 6+ years have been truly remarkable. We went from a rebuild to 5 straight division titles, including a World Series championship. In the past 6 years, y’all have seen me grow from a young kid out of college, to a now married man. I am extremely grateful for the support and love that y’all have shown me each of the past 6 years. I will always cherish the memories and relationships that were created with teammates, staff members, and the rest of Braves Country. It is hard to even put into words how appreciative I am for the city of Atlanta, and what it means to my wife and I, as well as my family. Thank you Braves Country."

We’re not crying, you’re crying.

From a pure business sense given how Atlanta has operated throughout the tenure of general manager Alex Anthopoulos, it was always unlikely that the Braves were going to meet the market value set for Swanson. But that doesn’t lessen the sting of losing a fan-favorite and team leader of his caliber.

This is a wound that will likely not heal for a while longer, but even though he’s now getting paid handsomely to be one of the faces of the Cubs, it does seem that Dansby Swanson feels something similar given the emotional nature of his goodbye to the Braves and the fans.