Braves: Vaughn Grissom Provides Leverage in Dansby Swanson Talks

While the Atlanta Braves will try their best to bring back shortstop Dansby Swanson, the emergence of Vaughn Grissom provides some leverage. 

Dansby Swanson is in the middle of his best season in the big leagues and is set to become a free agent this offseason, leaving the Atlanta Braves with a big hole at shortstop.

Being from the area and seemingly loving to be an Atlanta Brave, one might think bringing back Dansby Swanson would be a sure thing — perhaps even at a discount.

But after the Freddie Freeman situation, we know nothing is a guarantee when it comes to free agency and Alex Anthopoulos.

To make matters even more complicated, Swanson uses the same agency as Freeman — that is, until Freeman left that agency because of how things played out in Atlanta.

The Braves will still work hard to retain Swanson who has had an exceptional season, plays outstanding defense at the most important position on the field, and is a leader of this team.

But make no mistake, if he wants to make more money elsewhere, AA will let him go. Part of the reason they can do that is that they may have Dansby’s replacement ready and waiting.

Braves Could Move On to Vaughn Grissom

If the Braves decided to move on from Dansby, they could sign a veteran shortstop in the offseason to help bridge the gap to Vaughn Grissom.

The 21-year-old prospect start 2022 at High-A Rome where put up an impressive slashline of .312/.404/.487 with 11 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 74 games.

Getting called up to Double-A hasn’t slown him down. Through 21 games he’s slashing .345/.394/.494 with 3 home runs and 7 stolen bases.

The only slight change at Double-A is that his BB% has gone down and his K% has gone up — as you might expect for a young hitter advancing levels quickly.

There is no question he can hit, and he’s a nice change of pace from the current structure of the Braves lineup as he doesn’t strike out a lot.

Even still, he’s shown that with that approach he can hit 15-20 home runs.

The only questions now are, can he stick at shortstop, and is he ready?

Michael Harris played 43 games at Double-A before the Braves believed he was ready.

Not every player is built the same, and you knew at the very least you’d get good defense from MH2.

And it wouldn’t be fair to push Grissom so quickly for a championship-caliber team.

But if he plays the rest of the year at Mississippi and continues to hit as he has, and then has a good showing in Spring Training, you could make an argument for him to be next season as the team’s starting shortstop.

Of course, the Braves need to know that before the season begins.

The most likely scenario is sill that the Braves retain Swanson and he’s the shortstop for the next five years.

Either way, Grissom gives the Braves some leverage to not overpay for Swanson if the price gets too high.