Swanson agrees to 7-year deal with Cubs (source)
CHICAGO — This was an offseason the Cubs couldn’t let go to waste — not with the standard of star shortstops obtainable on the free-agent market. After a spherical of financial musical chairs, the North Siders reeled in one of many sport’s elite infielders in Dansby Swanson.
On Saturday, a number of sources informed MLB.com that the Cubs had reached an settlement with Swanson on a seven-year, $177 million contract that features a full no-trade clause. The deal, which is pending bodily, has not been formally confirmed by the Cubs.
Once the ink dries, Swanson’s deal will mark the second-largest by way of complete worth in Cubs historical past, trailing solely the $184 million Jason Heyward remodeled an eight-year contract. Swanson, Heyward and Alfonso Soriano (eight-year, $136 million) have the one offers in crew historical past lasting seven or extra years.
Swanson represented the final of the 4 big-ticket shortstops who hit free company this offseason, together with Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts. At numerous factors this offseason, the Cubs have been linked to all 4 gamers, however the market erupted in extraordinarily lengthy, wealthy offers that pressured Chicago to pivot to what grew to become essentially the most lifelike possibility.
Swanson was off on his honeymoon with Mallory Pugh — who performs for the Chicago Red Stars skilled soccer membership — when Correa’s deal got here to fruition earlier this week. It put Swanson in an excellent place to decide on his vacation spot, given his a number of suitors within the Cubs, Red Sox, Twins, Dodgers and others.
Swanson opted for a Cubs crew that’s trying to tug out of a two-year rebuild and has an bettering farm system that ought to begin feeding the MLB roster quickly sufficient. His deal additionally follows Chicago’s current signings of heart fielder Cody Bellinger, pitcher Jameson Taillon (nonetheless not official) and reliever Brad Boxberger.
With the arrival of Swanson, Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner will probably be pushed to second base, the place he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2020. Last yr, Hoerner established himself as an elite defensive shortstop, ending with 13 outs above common, per Statcast. Only Swanson (21) had extra en path to the National League’s Gold Glove Award at quick.
Hoerner was requested about the potential for the Cubs bringing in a brand new shortstop final season.
“If they make moves that are going to help us win baseball games, that’s not going to be a huge issue around here,” Hoerner stated in August. “Obviously, I imagine in myself as a shortstop, and I’ve stated that for some time, and folks imagine that now. But [my focus is just to] proceed on. And if we’ve got the difficulty of getting too many good gamers, then I’ll like that downside.”
Swanson grew up in Atlanta and was acquired by the Braves in December 2016, simply six months after the D-backs had taken him with the primary total choose within the MLB Draft. The 28-year-old veteran has served as Atlanta’s beginning shortstop since making his MLB debut on Aug. 17, 2016.
Swanson positioned himself for a hefty payday as he ranked second amongst all MLB shortstops with a 6.4 fWAR (FanGraphs’ mannequin) this yr, trailing solely the Mets’ Francisco Lindor (6.8). Swanson additionally ranked eleventh amongst all MLB gamers with this mark.
As Swanson’s offensive sport has improved over the previous two years, he has established himself as one of many sport’s high gamers. He hit a career-high 27 homers in 2021, and he ranked fourth amongst all shortstops with 25 homers this previous season.
Swanson has produced a good .768 OPS over the previous two seasons. But his glove stays his biggest asset, main the NL with 21.4 defensive runs above common, per the FanGraph mannequin this yr. Lindor ranked second amongst all different shortstops with 16.1, whereas Hoerner (14.4) was fifth. While serving to the Braves win 5 straight division crowns and the 2021 World Series title, he grew to become the crew’s chief. Rookies Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grissom revealed the shortstop is called “The Sheriff” inside the Atlanta clubhouse.
Swanson has additionally confirmed to be sturdy whereas enjoying all however simply two video games over the previous three seasons. He missed each of these two video games in 2021. He was the one MLB participant to start out 162 video games this previous season.
“Anytime you have a great player who’s a free agent, those guys are hard to sign because they earned it, right?” Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos stated on the General Managers Meetings in November.
“Gold Glove, everything else, the work he’s put in, he’s become an amazing player. And definitely, in my mind, arguably the best defensive shortstop in the game. Really, the work that he’s done is incredible.”
