(670 The Score) One of the benefits of shortstop Dansby Swanson signing with the Cubs on a seven-year, $177-million deal is that he’ll get to live and work in the same city as his wife, Mallory Pugh, a star soccer player for the Chicago Red Stars.
The couple was married earlier in December after mostly living apart for the prior four years as Swanson played for the Atlanta Braves and Pugh played for the Washington Spirit, the then-branded Sky Blue FC (in New Jersey) and the Red Stars while also having extensive U.S. women’s national team obligations and competitions.
“There was not any nudging,” Swanson said of Pugh’s influence on his free agency as the Cubs introduced him Wednesday. “She just wanted me to go somewhere where we would win, so here we are. It’s a place that we believe in. But it means the world to me to be able to be here with her. Obviously, we just got married. The last four years doing distance, it was D.C. first, then it was Jersey for a little bit and then it was Chicago. You know, it was tough at times. But being able to fully be in the same city, enjoy life together as a married couple, being able to serve our purpose together in God’s kingdom means a lot to each of us. And to be able to now do that together in the same city is pretty amazing.”
Swanson is especially excited to watch Pugh play in person.
“I always complain every year that I don’t get to watch her play that much other than on my iPad,” Swanson said. “It’s funny, we used to be on the (Braves team) plane and have her games up and the team would be huddled around my chair watching her games. Now, hopefully we can go be a little rowdy and ruckus at the actual stadium and cause a little stir. It means the world to us.”
Swanson, who will turn 29 in February, is coming off his first All-Star season in 2022 and had played his first seven MLB seasons in Atlanta. Swanson hit .277 with 25 homers, 96 RBIs and a .776 OPS while playing all 162 games for the Braves this past season. His 6.4 WAR in 2022 was the second-most among MLB shortstops, according to FanGraphs, trailing only the Mets’ Francisco Lindor.
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