The Braves have unconditionally released first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, the club announced.
Atlanta had been trying to trade Swisher for much of the offseason but will instead have to eat much of the $15MM owed to the veteran for 2016. The Indians will also be covering a portion of that dollar figure, as the Tribe sent roughly $15MM to cover portions of Swisher and Michael Bourn’s salaries as part of the August trade that brought Chris Johnson to Cleveland in a swap of bad contracts. If Swisher were to sign with a new team, that club would only be responsible for a prorated minimum salary while Atlanta and Cleveland would cover the rest of the $15MM.
Between the salary, Swisher’s age (35), his meager .204/.291/.326 slash line over 661 PA in 2014-15 and the double arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent in 2014, it’s not a surprise that Swisher didn’t generate much trade interest. He did hit decently well during Spring Training, however, and he told MLBTR’s Zach Links earlier this month that he “feels great” physically.
With such a small financial cost attached, there’s a good chance at least one team will explore adding Swisher as a bench bat and a veteran clubhouse presence. An AL team is more likely than an NL team for Swisher since senior circuit clubs wouldn’t have the benefit of the DH spot to preserve his knees. This is just my speculation, but the White Sox stand out as a team that could use some first base/DH depth now that Adam LaRoche has retired.
I will rememberrrrr youuuu
The Braves didn’t think anyone would pick up his entire contract on waivers? Shocking!
seeing him grow up, I thought at one point this guy was going to be a potential 40 home run hitter but only once hit 30+ homers (35)
Thank God this guy was practically useless
Nick was a great clubhouse leader, sad to see him go
Well expensive move, but had to be done. Hopefully Philly or Cleveland pick him up and give him a chance.
My exact thoughts about Philly!
Would be a good move for either, but being a Phillies fan, I would like the clubhouse presence with Howard and Chooch and also some pop in the OF
Are you serious? Cleveland paid him $15 Mil just to go away! Do you follow MLB at all?
Yes, I do follow MLB. CLE also took on $16M over the next two years for a player they do have anymore in Chris Johnson. Which Miami is now paying half a million to have CJ and CLE is still covering. CLE is also sending just under $15M to Atlanta in June for Swish and Bourn. Might as well have a 4th/5th OF for league minimum given 3 of their OF options open season on DL or suspended.
I can def. see the Phillies signing him, at least to give the club another Jeff Francour.
Phillies signed Venable, and have 5 outfielders performing well in ST, with Altherr and Asche starting the year on the DL>
I think they’re set in the OF.
Yeah, just saw that they signed Venable today. Decent signing.
I really don’t like the Venable signing.. He’s really nothing special. Besides that year he had in 2013 (which was only solid at best), he really hasn’t done much. The past 2 year have been bad. I’d much rather have a guy like swisher who is a good club house guy just like francour was.
Swisher > Venable IMO as a trade asset at the deadline.
Cleveland is NOT picking up Swisher.
Ok, since those thoughts were turned down with such conviction. Maybe the BOSTON RED SOX will pick him up.
Surely you’re being sarcastic.
Extremely.
Cleveland doesn’t have room for him at DH since they already have Santana and Napoli trading off starting there. .
He may have a bit left in the tank, but this is a good move for the Braves. There’s no reason to waste a roster spot on a young rebuilding team in the hopes that some day someone may give you something not completely useless for him. You’d have to play him for that and there’s no reason for them to want to do that.
Uh, no, there’s nothing “left in the tank”.
I’m so torn on this move because I love Nick Swisher, and fondly remember when he was an All-Star caliber player. Then again, a huge contract, a dozen (not really) knee surgeries, and a few crappy seasons later, I’m not sure what else the Braves could have done. His clubhouse presence will be missed.
This is really sad stuff, nick is a great RBI guy, and could have been platooned with Aybar for a great duo
Platooned with Aybar?
lol……..
twitter.com/craigcalcaterra/status/714508733578158…
Gogerty, my immediate thought was Philly! I’d love to have him here like we had Francoeur last year. Great clubhouse presence and could hit 15-20 in limited duty in CBP
League minimum, I could still see it happening, Venable or not. But hell might be an interesting week.
Bummer, I liked him. Not surprising though; I wish him the best.
Everything is coming around and shaping up. Good luck wasn’t having a horrible spring somebody should take a flyer on him. I am excited to see the young guys hopefully it will be the baby braves all over again and we can surprise some ppl. Even though realistically it should be more like next year but you never know.
Say it ain’t so BRO!
The White Sox have already been through the Swisher Experience. Once is enough.
Besides, Travis Ishikawa’s been having a nice camp. He’s been with winners and been a good clubhouse presence.
Swisher as a “veteran clubhouse presence”? Sure, Bro!
The Sox would be better off bringing in Drake LaRoche. He’d probably hit and play 1st base better as well.
The Yankees picked him up at exactly the right time and let him go at exactly the right time. Kudos to Cashman for the timing.
What happens to his Vesting Option for 2017? Namely if some team picks him up after clearing waivers and he somehow gets 550 PAs? Or does it just go away since he has been released…thanks!
Goes away. (Buy-out still has to be paid, of course.)
In addition to the 555 plate appearances in 2016, Swisher would also need to pass a physical (no sure thing with his knees) for his 2017 option to vest. Still hard to imagine Swisher getting the necessary PA’s with any team this season.
Thank you. I figured it was still lingering out there and highly unlikely he would make the plate appearances # w/ a new team.
Really liked him as a player when he was with the Yankees. Hope he gets another shot with a different team, he’s such a nice guy.
Lets Go O’s sign Nick the Swish!!!
Do u really want this Lefty? Who do u let go off the 40 man to sign him?
Swisher is a switch hitter.
@Go Rav
Maybe Kim. I don’t know.
Good grief I hope you are joking. They need a starter and/or someone who can get on base. Not a strikeout machine who can’t play the field. I have always been a swisher fan. A handful of years ago I would have loved it. But with this roster and his diminished skill set/injuries that is beyond a ridiculous idea.
I don’t know why it would be a ridiculous idea. I don’t like Murphy and Jay Bruce apparently costs too much.
No, if the O’s would like to gamble, I hope they gamble on Swisher.
I also remember him with the Yankees. He was a stand-up guy with very nice production. And very importantly (for the Yankees who are known for overpaying players ) at a reasonable price. I always have fond memories of him.
I also have fond memories of him with the Yankees. Stand-up guy with very nice production. Sorry to see he hasn’t bounced back from the surgeries. But I’m still holding out hope that he can return to be a productive player.
Nice guy, great personality, gets along with everyone except balls hit to RF…he’ll get a chance somewhere but maybe not immediately.
Great move for the Braves! Use that roster spot for something other than a dead spot on the roster costing a gang load of cash! I like Swisher, but this was the best baseball move for the organization.
And the best for Nick … sure he doesn’t want to finish up playing for a cellar dweller.
Hope Nick catches on with an AL team … I’ve think several teams that could use him in the DH and at 1B.
And to those bowing to Cashman about his “great GM prowess” … LMFAO!
The Ohio State University
The Brohio State University.
Funny seeing Braves fans saying this a “great move!” for a young guy to take the roster spot…. That is until they go with Frenchy and it’s just a waste lol. Seriously, the only young OF they could go with is Smith and they’ll keep him down in AAA for most of the season.
They’re going pay nearly $15M for him not to play in Atlanta, when they couldn’t pay Justin Upton barely over $20M a season to re-sign in Atlanta. Even Heyward is only making $17M this season lol. They continue to play the fans for fools.
Come June CLE will make a payment to ATL of almost $15M, therefore the team finds a trade partner for part of Bourn’s contract and we are good. The point of bringing those two in on the CJ trade was that in 2017, the team has an extra $7-9M not being paid to CJ. Yeah Heyward is making $17M this year, it is the $23-24M the next four years the team could not afford.
That’s asking a lot because Bourn has zero value, at least Swisher has the ability to draw a walk and no.., Cleveland is only on the hook for $5m of Swisher’s deal. You can easily find that on Baseball-Ref… And again, they took on over $30M to free up the contract owed to Johnson. They could have just eaten his deal and released him and saved money.
And to your point on Heyward, considering that Markakis, Bourn, and Swisher were going to combine to equal about $45M over the next few years, I don’t understand how they can act as if they can’t afford players. The market in MLB is changing and with the new TV deals, salaries are about to get even higher… To say that a player who hasn’t even reached his prime is “too expensive…” Well, Atlanta won’t be competing any time soon if they can’t even afford to keep their homegrown players. It’ll be tank, win for two years, and tank again.
Keep on drinking the Kool-Aid the local Atlanta media keeps putting out there.
You have that turned around; it’s Atlanta that will be paying the $5Mill for Swisher. Here’s the line:
” Swisher is due to make $15 million in 2016, with a $14 million vesting option for 2017; however, the Indians will be sending $10 million to the Braves as part of the deal.”
Cleveland is picking up a big chunk and its 1 year as opposed to the amount of years they both signed for. Remember Swish was only here in order to get rid of Chris Johnson. I like the move cause he was a liability in the field. Frenchy accepts his mentor role and is known as a good clubhouse presence. Also able to fill in all 3 spots in the OF. Didn’t realize Torres was sent down gonna have something up Coppy’s sleeve for another lefty in the bullpen unless ManBan found his role on the roster.
If the White Sox were to sign Nick Swisher to replace Adam LaRoche as their primary DH and backup first baseman, it would mean the club would likely open the season with 5 switch-hitters among their 13 position players. Swisher would join catcher Dioner Navarro, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, left fielder Melky Cabrera and utility infielder Carlos Sanchez on the clubs probable opening day 25-man roster. Anything to make manager Robin Ventura’s in-game decisions easier would be welcome in 2016. (lol)
amazing that the braves have wasted over $20mil to arroyo and swisher when they could have signed a free agent or two.
It’s not like they signed Swisher. They acquired him in a bad contract swap so they could get rid of Chris Johnson. And the deal involving Arroyo is widely considered one of the best moves by any team in the last few years, since it allowed them to essentially buy Touki Toussaint.
You don’t read anything but the headlines, do you. And old ones too. You should have known the Braves took on Arroyo so they could acquire Touki Tousant. You should have known the Braves acquired Swisher and Bourne in a swap for Johnson and cash.
That makes zero sense lol. They didn’t take on Arroyo JUST to acquire prospects from the Dodgers… This trade went both ways and the Braves gave a ton just to get two prospects and a bad contract. The Dodgers got Alex Wood (young, cost controlled pitcher) and Peraza (Top prospect in Atlanta) for a broken down old guy in Olivera, two prospects with upside, but who are very far away from majors and Arroyo..
So, they got Arroyo and had to eat a bad deal from LAD to get decent prospects in return. They had to pay big money to get out of Johnson’s deal and the bigger issue is that they act as if they can’t afford to spend on free agents. That’s the problem here.
Nick might of signed with the Jays but it looks like they just signed Montero. I suppose the Rays ? But I can’t see him with any other AL team ?
There’s no reason for a losing team to hang onto guys like this, or Francoouer, for that matter.
He would fit in well with the Giants I think ,
Here’s what I don’t get. Why not trade Makakis? You could have made Swisher the RH platoon out in RF with Bourn. They’re in essence both sunk costs. You could have dealt Markaksis for a prospect, saved the cash, rolled the dice on Swish, Bourn, and maybe Frenchy. I’m a Mets fan so anything LOLBarves is fine by me but….if you’re rebuild, then just own it.
Markakis gives better value, better production, etc.
I would have preferred to keep Swish simply for the clubhouse aspect of it.
But, production wise he’s not that great.