December 19, 2022: Dansby

posted in: Cubs | 0

Dansby, now there’s a unique name; maybe not, but I can’t think of any other Dansby’s… maybe my brain is just off today. Wait, wasn’t there a linebacker Carlos Dansby? Anyways, the one I want to talk about today is Dansby Swanson. The Cubs finally got somebody of note, no offense to Bellinger or Taillon, signing the ex-Atlanta SS to a 7 year deal worth $177M that includes a no-trade clause; hope we made the right choice.

He wouldn’t have been my first choice. Trea Turner, Carlos Correa… I think we can all agree are better than Swanson. But Swanson is younger… no, no he’s not. I thought he was, but they’re all approximately the same age. Well then, the contract is better. Yes, I guess you can say that, considering Trea Turner got 11/300M and Carlos Correa got 13/350M, but isn’t there a saying… you get what you pay for?

I like Dansby Swanson. I think he is a solid player. Looking at his stats quickly, his rookie year was 2016, a very good year I may say; I didn’t realize he’d been around that long. Playing fantasy baseball, I am somewhat familiar with him and his performance; I did have him on my roster a year or two. I know this year, he started off extremely slowly, but bounced back to have a nice year. 25 home runs was his 2nd highest total and his 96 RBI was his highest. Sorry, I still like to look at the traditional stats. That being said, this year was also his highest strikeout total with 182… but I guess that just means he fits in with almost every other ball player out there. His 255 career average isn’t anything to get too excited about, although his fielding is really nice; he won the gold glove this year. Of course, he was part of the Braves World Series team; he did hit 2 home runs in that World Series vs the Astros… that’s encouraging. With the no trade clause part of his contract, I guess none of this really matters; he’s going to be a Cub for a long time. We’ll have to go with the ups and downs and hopefully, at some point in this contract, will be playing meaningful baseball, including some more in the postseason; don’t think we’re in position for that quite yet.

Speaking about positions, this will scoot Nico over to 2nd base; Nico is a very good fielder in his own right, and will be fine wherever he ends up. That’s a pretty good middle infield; really like Nico, not only his glove, but his bat as well. If there are 2 positions that the Cubs have locked up, it’s SS and 2B; now about everywhere else… I know, we have other guys, like Happ, Suzuki, Bellinger… not sure who our catcher will be; you know, we had a guy, but… anyways. The Cubs roster continues to be a work in progress, but this signing is a really nice boost.

Of course, because of this work in progress, Jed shouldn’t be done yet. There are whispers about that catcher Barnhart I believe, and Conforto in the outfield; nice pieces, but nothing to be overwhelmed about. I think that ship has sailed; I think Dansby is going to be as close as it gets to that. So yeah, it’s a nice addition no doubt; maybe his wife playing for the Chicago professional soccer team the Red Stars helped him make the decision? Either way, welcome to Chicago Dansby; you will play 81 games every year in the best possible place to play a game, in front of the best fans in the game. Now hopefully, we can add more to the current roster to get back to the postseason some time soon… Go Cubs.

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