3 Atlanta Braves free agents who left this winter that the fans will miss

Dansby Swanson will be missed by Atlanta Braves fans

Of course, Swanson is going to be on this list. After all, he was arguably not only the biggest free agent on Atlanta’s roster heading into the offseason but also one of the most coveted shortstops available this winter.

Swanson landed with the Chicago Cubs as part of what has been a massive turnover of talent on the North Side, and Vaughn Grissom is expected to slide into Swanson’s role as shortstop in Atlanta. There will be large shoes for Grissom to fill after Swanson posted a career-high 5.7 bWAR in his first All-Star season, but Grissom showed last year that he has the talent to fill in for Atlanta players missing from the lineup (taking over for the injured Ozzie Albies at second base).

Still, after a career year last year from Swanson that capped three consecutive seasons where the former top overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft led all of baseball in games played at shortstop (380, including all 60 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign), it will take some adjustments by Braves fans to see someone other than Swanson at shortstop for the Braves.

With the Cubs not scheduled to visit Truist Park until September 26 as the regular season winds down, Braves fans will know when Swanson returns whether the decision not to re-sign him was the correct one for Atlanta.