Following the trade of shortstop Erick Aybar, the Atlanta Braves announced on Tuesday that the team will purchase the contract of Dansby Swanson from Double-A Mississippi on Wednesday. Swanson, the No.1 pick in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft, is one of the best prospects in all of baseball and projects as a cornerstone of the Braves' franchise.
The 22-year-old Swanson is known not only for his skillset and rank as one of the game's best prospects, but he was also the first player to be traded under MLB's recently added rule that recent drafted players can be dealt before the previous year-long deadline, where they would be ineligibile to be dealt until a year after the draft.
Swanson was drafted No.1 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks before he was shipped to Atlanta, in addition to then pitching prospect Aaron Blair and outfielder Ender Inciarte in exchange for pitcher Shelby Miller. It was deemed a highway robbery in Atlanta's favor at the time and given how Swanson has developed and that Miller was optioned to Triple-A Reno earlier this year, now looks even worse.
This season between High-A Carolina and Double-A Mississippi, Swanson had a .274/.362/.426 triple-slash line with nine home runs, 55 RBIs, 25 doubles and 13 stolen bases. He had a 166 wRC+ in High A before he hit some bumps in Double-A, though he still has a 116 wRC+.
MLB.com graded Swanson's tools as a 60-hit grade, 45-power grade, 60-run grade and 65 overall on the 20-80 scale. With the grading system, he projects as an infielder who can make it to multiple All Star games in his career.
For now he will likely start at shortstop most days for Atlanta, though he could shift over to second base when fellow top prospect Ozzie Albies is eventually called up to Atlanta.
From a fantasy perspective, it's likely best to avoid Swanson in redraft leagues. While he offers plenty of potential, his numbers in Double-A do show he was still developing and jumping up two levels will certainly provide a test for the young shortstop. The future is very bright for Swanson and the Braves, while it may not be now this move will certainly give fans something to be excited about for the rest of the season.