As the Atlanta Braves held a press conference to announce a new eight-year deal with outfielder Michael Harris II Wednesday, general manager Alex Anthopoulos was asked about the future of shortstop Dansby Swanson with the team.
Anthopoulos gave what essentially amounted to a non-answer when asked about Swanson, who can become a free agent after the season.
"We're going to try to keep as many players as we can," Anthopoulos said, according to Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
After recording the putout on the final play of the World Series a season ago, Swanson is putting together the finest campaign of his career in 2022. An All-Star for the first time, Swanson is slashing .294/.351/.458 with 16 home runs, 64 RBIs, an .808 OPS and a 5.2 fWAR.
We recently ranked Swanson as the No. 10 potential free agent this upcoming offseason, as he'll join a loaded shortstop class that could also include Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts.
On one hand, it would be hard to imagine the Braves letting a World Series hero that's from Georgia depart in free agency in the midst of his prime. On the other hand, Freddie Freeman was a franchise icon that the Braves allowed to leave last offseason.
Atlanta has proven to be a pretty cutthroat organization, which has worked for them. Harris joined Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies as players signed to team-friendly contracts. If Swanson holds out for market value, he may very well be playing for another team in 2023.
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