Austin Riley has had himself a month to remember.
He slashed a blistering .423/.460/.885 for a 1.344 OPS en route to NL Player of the Month honors for the month of July. To cap it all off, Riley received the most lucrative contract extension in Braves' history (10 years, $212 million).
Next to Riley on the baseball diamond is another guy that is expecting to receive a contract from the franchise in due time. Dansby Swanson is nearing the end of his deal and has been having a pretty good season of his own. What does Riley's deal mean for the presumable 'next man up'?
Grant McAuley joined The Midday Show to discuss.
"You've got Ozzie Albies already locked up, Matt Olson had the largest contract in franchise history and now Austin Riley does," McAuley started. "And I know that Dansby Swanson offers a lot of stability for what has been a great infield for the Braves, and can be for the foreseeable future."
Alex Anthopolous has an infield, and a core, that can compete for championships both now and in the foreseeable future. Albies is locked in through 2026 (with a team option for 2027), Olson is locked in through 2030, and Riley is now locked in through 2032.
Now they just need to get the final piece to fall in place with Swanson. But there exists the storyline surrounding his representation and Grant was quick to dispel that:
"The agent works for you," he said as Randy McMichael loudly agreed in the background. "If you want to be somewhere, you have to communicate that."
Both the Braves and Swanson's representatives will be eager to put the Freddie Freeman debacle behind them. But ultimately this comes down to what the Braves shortstop wants to do. So, does this Riley deal impact what the organization can or will do with the future of Dansby Swanson?
"Not really," McAuley said. "These guys are different positions, not just on the field but where they are in their career because Dansby is looking at free agency."
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If he wants to be a Brave, he'll be a Brave, and Anthopolous should be just as aggressive in getting a deal done as he was with Riley.