The Braves CAN'T Demote Dansby Swanson (But Need To)
Here we go again.
If you're a Braves fan, you know this ALL too well. Highly touted prospect from the Atlanta area plays for the Braves, gets the hype as the guy to take the torch that was passed from Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Chipper Jones, (and now Freddie Freeman), and would be face of the Braves for years to come.
We saw it from 2005-2008 with Jeff Francoeur, a Parkview High school graduate in nearby Lilburn, GA. He was supposed to be the guy to take Chipper's place whenever he retired. He started off great, hitting a home run in his first game when he was called up. Hopes were high, but his lack of discipline at the plate pretty much ended that run.
Then came Jason Heyward, a guy who went to Henry County High School, in McDonough (also in the Atlanta area). He was drafted by the Braves and had the tools to be a 5-tool player. I saw Heyward play in Rome in 2008 and was amazed at what he could do so I bought into the hype as well. On the first PITCH of his career, Heyward homered. And it seemed like Heyward would be the true torch bearer for the Braves. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Heyward, while never imploding, always seemed to have nagging injuries that would keep him out or something going on and never truly panned out for Atlanta. Even Chipper Jones after a while believed that Heyward wasn't the guy to take over the Braves, but it was Freddie Freeman (a California guy, and Chipper was right on that).
Now it is Dansby Swanson's turn. Of course, the story is a bit different with Dansby than Francoeur or Heyward. Yes, he is another Atlanta area kid (Marietta), but was drafted by Arizona first overall in 2015. The Diamondbacks traded Swanson, Ender Inciarte, and Aaron Blair to the Braves for Shelby Miller. Now many believe the Braves committed highway robbery on the deal. And yes they did.
But really because of Inciarte at this point.
The problem with Dansby in my eyes and after going to SunTrust Park to see the Braves and Cardinals where St. Louis routed Atlanta 10-0 is that he is over-matched and he knows it. He doesn't have confidence at the plate anymore (and hit a soft pop-up and a roller for an easy ground out while striking out). And just how he carries himself it doesn't look like he feels confident at this point. And seeing a few of my friends comments on Facebook, it is not just me that thinks this.
The thing is, he needs to go to Gwinnett. Or maybe even a trip to Mississippi. Unfortunately, he won't.
Yes, Swanson is a rookie and get sent down at whatever point, but the Braves do not have a shortstop outside of Swanson on the 40-man roster. Sean Kazmar is in Triple A right now playing short, but he is not on the 40-man roster. Or do you take a gamble and temporarily move Jace Peterson to short? I don't know if Atlanta would do that.
To me, the issue doesn't reside with Dansby. It resides with the Braves. The guys running the team are somewhat maligned in the town. They pushed for a ballpark that was controversial in how they went about getting it and divided the fan base over it. And then they practically told the fan base for 2 years that they were not going to contend at any point by selling off the players and say "wait until we go into our marvelous ballpark and people will pack it in to see these new baby Braves compete!"
After going last night, yes, the ballpark is a gem. But fans so far have not come out in droves and in the week, Atlanta only drew an average of 21,500 against the rival Mets, pretty much a little over half of the capacity of the ballpark. And so far, if you take out the first weekend of the season for the Braves at the new park, they are averaging 24,000 in attendance. But right now, it currently sits at 28,000, only 3,000 more than what they drew last year at Turner Field. So the Braves management, while probably clinging to the excuse that the Battery is not finished and it will make life better (and maybe true) is really pushing the hometown kid to help out. There are just as many Dansby Swanson ads/billboards as there are Freddie Freeman ones. If you were an outsider to baseball in Atlanta, you'd think the Braves were Freddie and Dansby's team. It was the same way with Francoeur and Heyward, but only now it is amplified in part because of the new park and they are probably finding damage control in some way. So really if the Braves did send Dansby down, you just put in an ad campaign for the past 6 months for a guy who is not currently on the team.
Again, I am a Braves fan, and I do want Dansby to succeed big time (and think he is a stand-up class act by the way), but my biggest fear was that the Braves rushed him and also have given him that added pressure to be the hometown boy to get Atlanta back to the promised land. And so far, it is coming to fruition. This time last year, Swanson was in Class A Advanced in Carolina League ball playing for the Carolina Mudcats. I thought "well, if all goes well, we can see him in September of 2017 as a call-up and we can see how great he is." Instead, Swanson was in Atlanta of September. People arguing for it were "might as well get his licks now!" And he did well. But at the same token, the Braves were well out of it and were playing the schedule out as they also had the "nothing to lose" mentality. Now with a new season and some hope in Atlanta (not a lot, but way more than 2015 and 2016) the scene is different. Maybe Swanson does feel that pressure and has tried too hard at this point or it is pitchers have gotten the scouting report on him. Whatever the case is, he looks like a fish out of water.
And with a guy like Dansby this young, it could be very problematic for him and the Braves. And the most logical thing the Braves can do, they can't do.
But they sure as heck need to.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
