There was slight cause for concern when the Atlanta Braves let Dansby Swanson walk away a year after Freddie Freeman joined the Dodgers. In both cases, money was the issue with Swanson signing a seven-year, $177 million contract that spoke of how out of control the market has gotten at the shortstop position.
Atlanta responded by simply elevating Arcia as a starter and offering the utility player a three-year, $7.2 million dollar extension.
Again, it is important to note that Swanson signed for $177 million with an average yearly salary of $25 million. Swanson’s yearly average is more than three times Arcia’s entire contract.
This speaks to how well the Braves are run and their ability to evaluate talent rarely now winning a deal. While there was an expectation (from this writer included) that as the season wore on the Braves would miss Swanson with Arcia regressing to career norms the opposite has been true.
With fewer games albeit, the fielding percentage of the two players is nearly identical with Arcia posting a 1.9 WAR compared to 2.5 from Swanson.
This is partly due to the injury that Arcia dealt with earlier in the year that puts the Braves shortstop at a slight disadvantage. Arcia has been far more valuable to Atlanta offensively than Swanson was early the previous season.
As we are now deep into the season, it is time to respect that this isn’t simply a fluke but a player who perhaps long deserved extended playing time. For further perspective, here are the numbers from both players
Orlando Arcia: 158-at bats, .323 average, 51-Hits, 5 homers, 23 runs, 19 runs batted in, and a .378 OBP
Dansby Swanson: 248-at bats, .254 average, 63 hits, 6 homers, 29 runs, 26 runs batted in, and a .346 OBP
In nearly 100 less at-bats, Arcia has comparable production despite batting far deeper in the lineup and a far better average. Atlanta has an argument for having the more productive shortstop while saving more than $20 million per season.
Both the production from Arcia and the rest of the lineup are making any concerns about losing Swanson look foolish. It isn’t just Arcia’s production that is killing any such take, but the timing of when Arcia comes up with a play.
While there are far too many clutch moments from Arcia to recount the one that stands out most recently was a clutch game-tying homer against the New York Mets. This helped the Braves complete three comebacks and sweep a team that is now reeling after Atlanta dismantled them with Arcia playing a huge role in that.
While we have a long time to judge the history of both contracts for now, there is no argument which side is winning. While Swanson and the Cubs fight for relevance, Arcia helped the Braves win the NL race to 40 wins and continues to find ways to produce in the clutch and prove those who doubted wrong.