92.9 The Game Atlanta Braves insider Grant McAuley joined Dukes and Bell for his regular appearance on the show and talked about is Dansby Swanson’s return next year critical to the Braves long term success?
When asked about Dansby’s contract situation.
“I think he’s a key contributor and an important piece, it’s hard to imagine that you would have both guys who were the last play of the World Series, plus the pitcher that threw the final pitch of the World Series all gone within a calendar year. Usually it feels like they stick around for little while longer, but it was Dansby who was the guy that made the 6-3 put out to Freddie Freeman so imagine both of those guys and the standing that they have with this club not being in a Braves uniform beyond 2022 is something that would take some serious getting used to,” McAuley said. “They have signed some deals, I think they could sign a deal at any time and Alex Anthopoulos keeps this stuff pretty close to the vest. I’m sure that there have been some discussions, I do know that, how far they’ve gotten and when it could culminate in an extension or whether or not this thing has to end up in free agency is kinda anybody’s guess at this moment.”
McAuley talked about what he thinks Swanson means to the Braves.
“I can’t state enough how important I do think that Dansby is to that clubhouse and to the overall culture of winning that the Braves have created because I do feel like he’s one of those guys, workhorse, veteran, high IQ baseball guys that just makes your team better. I understand that it took him a while to put together some seasons in which offensively speaking maybe that really got you feeling like this is a cornerstone type player but I do think he’s is one of those pillars when you’re building a club, the kind of player that you want to have around for a while.”