The Braves are sending shortstop Dansby Swanson down to Triple-A Gwinnett to receive everyday at-bats as they look to break him out of a lengthy slump, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves depth chart]
The No. 1 overall pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2015 draft, Swanson was traded to the Braves alongside Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair in the widely panned Shelby Miller trade. After just 529 minor league plate appearances, he burst onto the scene with a .302/.361/.442 batting line through 145 plate appearances late in the 2016 season.
Swanson got off to a terrible start to the season but righted the ship from early May through July 1, hitting .282/.352/.420 with a dozen doubles and four homers through 196 plate appearances. Unfortunately, he’d fallen into a brutal 2-for-40 slump and begun to lose some playing time to the hotter-hitting Johan Camargo.
By all accounts, Swanson is still largely viewed as the shortstop of the future in Atlanta despite what can be described, at best, as an up and down 2017 campaign. He’s yet to take a full season’s worth of plate appearances in the Majors or in the minors, so at 23 years of age Swanson should hardly be considered any kind of lost cause. In all likelihood, Swanson will get another chance to prove himself at the Major League level later this season after working to sort out some kinks in a lower-pressure environment.
From a service time standpoint, he’s currently just nine days away from reaching a full year, so it’s exceedingly likely that he’ll still end up with one-plus year of service this offseason. That’d still leave him on pace to be eligible for arbitration upon completion of the 2019 season and eligible for free agency in the 2022-23 offseason.
He needs this to get better
Especially since I just got my Swanson jersey…
Why not a Ian Krol jersey lmao
He still makes an incredible pot pie.
Any guess who will come up?
Probably Jace Peterson or Lane Adams
Micah Johnson
It would be awesome if it’s Ocuna
It would be more awesome if it was Acuna.
Not a surprise
When is Acuna gonna be called up?
Probably not until Opening Day 2018 at the latest
Earliest** so sorry
for service time purposes, Im guessing more like May 2018
Braves typically don’t play that game
I think circumstances dictate that. Heyward broke camp in 2010 because he was needed on a team that had playoff aspirations. They waited until after the Super Two deadline to promote Newcomb this year. If they finish this season on a strong note that leads them to believe they expect to be in the playoffs in 2018, Acuna would break camp if he’s ready. If 2018 is more of a “we should be able to contend” I think he’d wait. Acuna’s age 20 season isn’t more valuable than his age projected age 27 season.
Hopefully next year with all the other ones
unfortunately while hitting Camargo has also shown he does not have instincts for playing SS like Dansby does. Braves handled this poorly, if this was the move it should have happened 3 weeks ago, not now.
Amen! They finally realize he needs to have ABs in the confines of Gwinnett with Albies and Acuña. And for what?
Waaaay overdue. Rushed him for zero reason, other than to sell tickets to that “blah” stadium and he stunk for the majority of the season.
I agree totally, middle of May should have been the latest. A slump is one thing but his defense was terrible also. He was rushed and I hope he can get things straightened out.
Agree 100%
Same happened with Seattle’s Zunino… It takes time to develop some players, pure and simple…
I’ve only seen him a few times but isn’t he a really great defensive shortstop? Like REALLY good? He seemed to have a rocket arm.
No, he’s terrible at SS. Any other team would have him at 2B
I think once he starts hitting good again in AAA, trade him. Get his value up, and headline him in a deal for a SP. He’s never going to be able to hit Major League breaking balls.
Ummm…no? He’s graded positive on all counts at SS, even considering some boneheaded rookie mistakes.
Rookie mistakes?
His glove needs serious work if he ever wants to be a SS. And right now, his glove and his bat are negative. I can understand his batting slump, but there’s no excuse to make the errors he makes on the field.
There’s a reason why Camargo is at SS now, and it isn’t all because of his bat. It’s because he doesn’t lollygag the ball.
Good stuff here from all the Johnny Superscouts
Hawt take.
“graded positive”, mabye only in the GA school system lol. He is one of the worst at his defensive position in the league, do you even watch the games?
Any other team?
We will take him how’s Jared weaver in trade
Atlanta fan are you absolutely stupid you call yourself a fan but you know nothing about the plan of Atlanta that’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard
Nope
Might be time to start talking about Orlando Arcia instead. Dude is a year younger than Dansby, has better UZR, Range Factor and DWAR ratings. And he’s been hitting the cover off the ball for 2 months.
People have layed off the swanson hype train for a while. It was a product of the trade. Now the trade is just viewed as a braves win because of Ender Incarate (spelled the last name wrong) and anything swanson and blair do is a bonus
This isn’t even a conversation that will happen.
Orlando Arcia is the future at SS for the Brewers. Unless you’re offering Albies, Soroka, Allard, and Wright or Anderson the Brewers arent giving up 5 years of Arcia for anything less than a severe overpay from someone.
Screw that that kid ain’t that good I’d rather have gennett. The brewers are stupid
You are a moron
Except Gennett can’t play anywhere else besides 2nd and a mediocre one at that. And he’s no longer on the Brewers. Watch baseball much?
You sir, are very dumb lol
The braves suck. Why would they not just give him majors playing time?
He needs to develop a feel for breaking pitches. Sliders moving away have killed him. Makes sense, considering he has t seen many good ones…
There aren’t many big league sliders in AAA.
Can’t Rodriguez play SS? Put Freeman on 3B and Adams on 1B. I’m not sure how Freeman was doing at 3rd but I thought I heard it was fine.
He can play it, but it’s not Rodriguez’s best position. Not even close to his best, actually.
Well, put Rodriguez at SS and he wouldn’t be able to allow an inside the park HR like he did last night in RF at ARZ from a severely-badly played ball.
Ouch, I hadn’t been aware of that play. I’m a Bucs fan, and in PGH he was I would say above average at 1B, around average at 3B, 2B, LF and RF, and below average at SS. He simply doesn’t have the range to play SS. Actually he had little to no experience at 1B and not much more in the OF prior to joining the Bucs, but those ended up being his primary positions at times, and he was surprisingly good there.
Badly played ball? The ball hung up for Rodriguez to make a play and hit a medal post not much you can do about that
I don’t think the trade is nearly as lopsided as it is made out to be.
Unless Inciarte falls off a cliff, OR Miller can manage a couple top 5 Cy Young finishes, it’ll go down as one of the worst trades of all time.
And that’s not even including Blair (who has been terrible) and Swanson (who has been terrible this year). If either of them get going, than its an even more lopsided trade.
No I would agree that it’s not too lopsided, Blair and Swanson are terrible so far, Inciarte is good but he’s not a superstar. If Miller recovers fully I think he can get back to being a really good 2 starter.
But at the time how those 3 prospects were valued makes it super lopsided.
That like saying the Brewers or Twins are not in the playoff hunt because going into the season they weren’t good on paper. It doesn’t really matter how it looked at the time it matters what happens after they are traded. Look at the. Cardinals trading a can’t miss prospect in Brett Wallace for a rental bat named Matt Holliday. Moz was ripped apart because of Wallace’s hype but in the end it is obvious that the Cards won that trade.
It definitely matters how players were viewed at the time. Trade value is fluid, imagine what the Blue Jays could have gotten for Brett Lawrie after his rookie season for example. You can’t just look at a trade in a vacuum.
Don’t bother arguing with JAF. He thinks the Cubs suck (when they’re in first) and his team is the best. Just Another Freaking troll on this site.
more terrible than the Alex Wood trade? now thats a lopsided trade.
Lol what? It’s already lopsided with Inciarte!
And the D-Baggs have paid $9,050,000 Miller. He’s rewarded them by going 5-14 with a 5.78 ERA in a bizarrely low 24 games…20 last year due to a minor league demotion, 4 this year due to injury. If it was a salary dump for Corky Miller, it’s lopsided.
@black69. Actually, that’s about the going rate ($4.5M/yr.) for a pitcher with a losing record, an inflated ERA and an injury history!
The D’backs fleeced Atlanta on that trade. We’ll see in about two years if Shelby Miller can get back to being a young mid-to top of the rotation starting pitcher. If he does, the trade was a top end starter for an outfielder. Teams that get solid, top of the rotation, young, controllable pitching win on those trades.
D’backs didn’t trade Dansby Swanson. They traded the myth of the #1 Draft Pick. That myth assumes the #1 pick will be a sure fire Hall of Famer. The record shows that more #1 picks become busts than become HoFers. The D’backs traded a myth and got a good young pitcher.
Braves fleeced the dbags
Ok Swanson whatever. He has potential
What else did they give up? Thought so
@padresfan. Interdivisional team fans should write what you wrote. I love rivalries!
BTW does anyone remember that a 5th player was involved in that trade? Gabe Speier is pitching for the D’backs’ AA Jackson Generals. He’s doing OK, not great. But he is still only 22 yrs old and is ahead of the age curve to be in the upper levels of the minors already. Will he turn out to be something? Who knows, there is a chance however. In any case, he is the answer to a great Trivia question!
Dude it’s a known fact
That trade alone should have gotten Stewart fired
Braves sold high on him and y’all got fleeced
Things happen. Braves will forever win that trade
@padresfan. Dude? Takes me back to my days in LaJolla with the surfersat Wind ‘n Sea!
Yes, many fans fixate on first impressions of trades, and certainly did in this case. I prefer to wait and see what actual production each player generates before evaluating trades. Potential is a fickle thing. I can point to thousands of players who had fabulous potential…but turned out to be garbage. So keep believing in the past if you so choose. I’m waiting about two more years before I pass judgement on the trade.
Inciarte alone is a gold glove all-star. If anything at all the Dbacks can HOPE to make the trade a “win” for both teams…the only way this becomes a win for the Dbacks is if Swanson never develops and Miller ends up a Cy Young candidate in the next 2 years!
your spot on
You sound clueless. The “young controllable pitching” card doesn’t mean anything if the pitcher is mediocre and needs tjs. By the time miller comes back dbacks have 1 year if control left. It doesn’t even matter about swanson or blair. Inciarte is a gold glove outfielder with a really good bat. Dbacks needed him so badley last year while shelby miller was getting lit up like a christmas tree. No matter what swanson becomes ender inciarte alone is worth far more than miller
Yup
Inder alone makes this a win
A 10-win player after this year for a pitcher that is a legitimate non-tender candidate…any argument that the Braves didn’t win this trade is insane. Swanson still has a ton of potential, Blair will get released, Inciarte is on a great contract…if the Braves traded Inciarte they’d get back a better pitcher than Miller at the time Miller was traded. This isn’t even up for debate anymore.
Ender*
A 10-win player? What.
I assume he means career WAR.
You sir when the dumbest comment on the internet today.
You’re funny!
I thought he was better than Jeter? Lol
The said he had instincts comparable to Jeter.
except the instinct to hit?
How do you measure instincts?
He left his bat instincts in college
All you guys are freaking out about nothing! You say he was terrible a majority of the season, not entirely true. He had a terrible 16 game stretch to start the season. Then over his next 66 games… .256/.338/.374. While not ideal for an every day starter, his OPS during that stretch was just under league average for a SS, and all things considered it’s rookie year. Barry Larkin struggled just the same. Then he’s been awful in July. Not to mention he wasn’t exactly knocking down the door last year when he got promoted from double A. He missed time his first professional season. Adjusted to another system the next, before hastily being promoted last year. He missed time this spring. Let him have a breather in Gwinnett. Trout or Judge didn’t catch the league on fire initially either. Not saying he’s the same caliber, but too soon to relegate him as a bust.
You watch him swing ? No movement in the hands so no bat speed
Except he had the second highest exit velocity on the team genius
Mike Trout put up .7 fWAR in his first taste of 135 pas(Dansby had 145 last year). Mike Trout produced 10.3 fWAR in his next season. Same basic idea with Judge. Those are poor examples to defend Dansby right now. Both of those are examples of players who did well in their first full MLB seasons.
Yesterday a Braves fan predicted with certainty that Ian Anderson would be better than Sonny Gray, and while there is a chance the risk is far higher. Seen enough Braves prospects fail hopelessly in recent times to call it a sure thing is delusional.
Dansby got a fair shot and has been awful, moving along, how about you guys get Gray and Semien?
I’d like to hear what y’all think a typical year from Swanson looks like. AVG, R, HR, RBI, SB
I’m not trying to rip the guy. I’ve got him stashed in a keeper league and am deciding whether or not to keep him.
his floor will be a .270 avg. 60-70 runs, 10-12 hrs, 60 rbi, 10 sb guy.
his ceiling is probably a .300 avg, 80-90 runs, 15-20 hrs, 85 rbi, 12 sb guy.
This season he still managed to hit almost 10 hrs and was second/third on the team in rbi for a long time. He doesn’t steal many bases but he can on occasion. He could eventually turn into a 2-hole hitter which is where I think he ends up later in his career. This is what I think. Someone is going to come on here and tell me I’m wrong and none of that will ever happen, but lets see what happens.
very close to my thoughts. solid player (hopefully) in the near future, .275-300 ave, 10-15 hr, 70 – 80 rbi, 100 r, .375 ob% ,425 slg% .10- 15 steals, and steady D
Why not bring up Albies, he is a shortstop you know just in case everyone forgot that .
Hmmm wonder where all the Braves fans who said it was a good idea to rush Swanson to the majors are now?
The braves butchered this in everyday possible..no surprise there…they are the Braves after all . Their stupidity is not even rivaled.
Lol that’s really funny buddy one of the best minds in baseball ever and we are stupid
Move Freddie to SS!!!! Jack of all trades!
I think the Braves have overdone it a little bit with all of the marketing they’ve thrown Dansby into. They’ve made an unproven rookie the face of the franchise, which adds to the pressure that a #1 draft pick and hometown kid already has to deal with. I’m not making excuses for him, but I just think that was a questionable and avoidable move by the FO and Marketing departments.
How is he the face of franchise we do after all have a guy named Freddie freeman
I’m talking about from a marketing perspective. He’s in every commercial, print ad, etc. They are using his looks and his name to sell tickets and I think that is a bad move for a young guy like Dansby.
anyone besides me ticked off at all these homers. I love seeing a hr as much as the next guy. but its bs. mlb is on a pace to break the all time record (counting steroid era) for total homers by 350,,,,,WOW !!!
I hate when exciting things happen at baseball games
Some wine does not improve with time. I posted a couple weeks ago after I saw Dansby in SD. My seats are very close to visiting dugout/on deck circle. He is very small/sleight build. No power on that frame coming. He doesn’t have a gun for an arm. Don’t know about errors mentioned by others. #1 pick….bad joke. Braves making him face of the franchise….another bad joke. Sorry Braves fans. Having said that….he’s better than any SS in Padres system….have your GM call Another Jackass Preller. We had Trea Turner before that jackass came to town.
As a Braves Fan may sound dumb but his stock is still high I would trade him and get Chris Archer. Pride. Swallowed
All I have to say is Dansby deservingly got demoted. July has been his worst month. He signaled some fatigue last year around the future’s game. I’m sure the mental aspect of the MLB everyday grind has got to him just a bit. He’s not needed right now in Atlanta to play shortstop. Give him a breather. Allow for him to get right. Stop rolling over pitches. He’ll be back. It’s not like he was a complete bust before this July spell. April and May he had bad luck on hard contact. June he cut his k/rate and posted a .300 BA. He still has .280/.360/.420 potential. Barry Larkin came up at the same age and found success in his late season call up. Only to struggle offensively with an average in the low .200’s through July. His defense wasn’t quite there either. His 24 year he turned it all around. Swanson will be back. Johan isn’t the long term solution as short. His range is middling. Say what you will about Swanson’s current play at short, at least he has the range and potential to man it long term.