Swanson is our best player in terms of bWAR. It's nowhere near the worst contract. If you want to win you have to spend. Every team that paid the tax made the playoffs.
As a Padre fan, the worst contract no one is talking about is SD signing Xander Bogaerts. An incredible overpay, they didn't even need another SS. His numbers have taken a nose dive, and with his wrist issues, it seems like we'll never even get an amazing year with him on the roster.
One hundred percent we didn’t even need him and we spent almost 300 million?! We could’ve used that money to Sign another pitcher like fried or burnes and/or kim, adames
Maybe it's because I'm a Dodger fan, but even objectively, you can make the case the Padres have a ton of bad contracts. Tatis Jr isn't one. That's legit a steal, even if he isn't putting up MVP numbers offensively like 2019-2021 anymore. An all-star caliber bat with great speed and GG caliber defense at 26? Manny's looks really bad, especially in a couple years come 2027. He never should've been allowed to renegotiate if I was the Padres. 11/350? And it's massively BACK LOADED? He starts making a whopping 39M a year from that point. At 35. Until he's FORTY-TWO. And his offense and defense in the last couple seasons have already started to take a step back. Darvish's looks bad too. 21M in 2025, and 16M, 15M, and 15M after THAT? He's injury prone, 38, and has already started declining. He gets paid until he's 42 as well. Bogaerts literally hamstrings your franchise too. He's probably the reason you won't be able to pay Merrill in 5 years. 25.4M a year.......for 9 more years.......for a guy rapidly declining offensively and defensively.....He'll be 41 when that contract is up.
I still don't understand that contract. It feels like a consolidation or pity prize because Judge and Turner both said no. Feels like they wanted to sign Bogey just to say they signed a top free agent.
I think the padres should never have signed bogartes and kept Juan Soto, yes he wasn’t doing as well as he normally does on the padres but with Juan Soto and Tatis they’re both young and talented players that you want to keep on the team with years ahead of them. Signed older players on the decline with massive contracts is a bad move.
Huh? Swanson has put up WARs of 4.8 and 4.0 in his first two seasons with the Cubs at the single most important defensive position on the field. A solidly plus defensive shortstop with an approximately league average bat is a hugely valuable commodity, and he’s definitely lived up to his contract so far. I could name like a dozen worse contracts easily off the top of my head.
Swanson is a consistent 4 to 5 WAR guy. That is actually pretty good. The Cubs did overpay, but this is not a situation where they player is getting paid too much AND not performing at an expected level.
He's made $40m dollars and fangraphs says he's been worth $74 million dollars so far due to being worth 9.2 fWAR. I think you tremendously undervalue his defense and baserunning. It's also tough to find a bat at shortstop
You’re forgetting the available options at SS when the Cubs signed Swanson. They literally took the worst option of the 4 guys available. You’re also severely overrating what he does well. He makes $25M a year, plays 81 home games at Wrigley, and hit 22 and 16 HRs in his first two seasons. This is a terrible contract. It always was.
He was vacuum at SS with the Braves. I thought he had many clutch, great ABs. I do miss Swanny but we were smart not to pay him what the Cubs have. Chop On!
To me the worst contract in mlb is bogaerts idk how nobody is talking about how a guy w suboptimal defense power and regressing hitting is on the book for the NEXT 9 YEARS! It’s absolutely insane I’d love to see you do a vid on that one I think it’s gonna end worse than the pujols contract
No one is expecting Swanson to be the best hitter on the team. He’s not Andrelton Simmons. Yes he is a defense first shortstop but he’s far from a sure out at the plate. He is there to, along with Hoerner and PCA, give the cubs by far the best defense up the middle in baseball
he'd be a much better fit on a team that has a ton of hitters. He was perfect in Atlanta. Chicago doesn't have many good bats and aren't that good of a team.
I would agree that the Cubs were the wrong team to give him that contract, he is clearly a defensive first shortstop so maybe the Cubs should first have a strong offense before worrying on spending money on defense, so they should've spent it on a better bat. However I would have to disagree with the point that he is overpaid, as his avg War so far has been around 4~4.5 since signing with the Cubs, and the avg $/War these past few offseasons has been between ~$4.5M/War and ~$8.5M/War. So even if we round down his yearly War to 4, 4*$4.5M = $18M and 4*$8.5M = $34M, so $28M is a bit high but wouldn't call it an overpay.
This is such a bad take. Dansby's contract is perfectly reasonable for an elite defensive shortstop with roughly average offensive output. Back half might be rough but next 2-3 years will likely be fine
So, so far Dansby's made $45mil the last 2 years, and he has produced $74mil worth or production according to Fangraphs, because WAR has an measurable value. So it's hard to even make a claim at all that it's a bad deal, so I'm not sure why the claim is being made at this point? Since coming to the Cubs, Swanson's 9.3 fWAR ranks 5th behind Bobby Witt Jr, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, and Gunnar Henderson. Yes, Trea Turner's, 8.1 fWAR, Carlos Correa's 6.1 fWAR, and Xander Bogaerts 4.9 fWAR has been worse than Swanson's overall production, so think about that. And for the record, Dansby's gotten MVP votes 3 years, last being 2023 with the Cubs.
If they re-unite Belli and Yelli, they could be unstoppable. An unmovable object and an unstoppable force. Someone needs to make it happen already, they are both gettin old.
If you consider all the factors such as aav, length, and production defensive and offensive. Swanson probably is the least awful contract from the batch of all star shortstops that off season.
Boegarts deal was insane and the money they gave Trevor Story in Boston was bad money after bad. Correa when healthy is worth it. Seager already won a WS so Rangers are going to be happy forever. It's the kid in Philadelphia that will probably be worth more than his already high salary.
League-average bat, gold glove-caliber short stop - I'd take that for my team any day. His contract might be a slight overpay, but not by much. His decline in power is concerning, though.
his bat is becoming below league-average now. He was a perfect fit on the Braves when he had a ton of great bats around him and he got better ABs. Chicago is a massive downgrade compared to Atlanta team-wise. Chicago is nowhere near being a contender.
@@jc24445 Dansby is still an average- slightly above average hitter, he was injured for most of the first half this year so his overall production was down, but he hit 281/352/443 in the second half after he healed.
@@skylla7452 he's only going to regress. A solid SS but only for a team that has a ton of hitters. Terrible fit for the Cubs because they don't exactly have that many good players.
@@jc24445 As long as Dansby keeps up his defense the Cubs will be fine, 4 players on the roster last year had on OPS+ above 110, Paredes will probably bounce back and make that 5. PCA and Amaya were both above average hitters in the second half and there are 5 MLB ready top 100 prospects in AAA.
@@skylla7452 Parades is on a downward trent, PCA has bust potential, Amaya is whatever, and prospects don't always pan out. The Cubs are big enough to where they shouldn't be "just fine". The franchise is just a money maker and that's it. They'll never win anything with the current management they have.
No it just shows how dumb the Cubs front office is. Overpay for mediocre players without any real vision of a contending team, they’re a big market team with no real intellect.
@@hymmz360 he’s not mediocre at all. His defensive is elite and in a good lineup he’d be amazing. Your point about the Cubs front office isn’t wrong but Swanson was a good signing
You really didn’t think about this from any other perspective than an offensive perspective. Even then, he is an above average hitter with pop. Outside of that Dansby has one of if not the best gloves at shortstop in the league. The cubs pitching staff is far from a strikeout staff so his defense is much needed. Dansby is also a natural leader. As many people have already said in these comments, he’s really not being overpaid but it’s just the reality of the market. This is more of a problem with the cubs front office not adding more as one of the top markets in the sport. Not one of your better takes.
Big Cubs fan, not necessarily a big Dansby fan but..... I think it is unfair to evaluate this trade until 2 more years go by. The defense is wonderful & dependable - don't think pitchers like that?- and I think he may be capable of a couple of decent offensive seasons without any expectation of MVP. As always: there's always next year. Cool Correa comparison [alliteration always America].
Like did they really expect Swanson to be hitting like in the .300s consistently? That's not who he is. And it's not like he's getting paid THAT much in that many years as well. I would've gone with the Correa or Bogaerts contracts since they can't stay healthy.
He's a great defensive player who doesn't always hit. He's a good to very good player, not a great player. What used to be called a "'steady " player. Yes, an overpay, and always will be.
I mean....he at least brings superb defense to the table with an about average bat. He isn't atrocious, but yeah, not really worth the $25M~ per year he is getting paid, and for 7 years. If it were closer to $20M AAV and like a 4-5 year deal, sure. But I also think the contract was a product of that particular off-season having a ton of shortstops receiving MASSIVE contracts/extensions.
As a Braves fan; I was all for re-signing Dansby UNTIL I saw the original offer from the Braves he rejected. If I remember it correctly it was reported to be around $20 mil a year for 5 or 6 years, which at the time sounded like the perfect offer for a defensive first shortstop having a career year. Tbh, if he didn't have that career year I would've been mad if he got anything more than $18 mil a year. When he rejected it, and it was also reported he wanted more and an extra year, I was DEFINITELY okay with the Braves letting him go. Then when I saw how much, and how long, the contract he got from the Cubs was I knew he wouldn't be able to live up to that contract. He's a good shortstop, no doubt about it, but he isn't anywhere near worth what he's getting paid. Thats star money and he simply isn't a star, he's a piece you can plug into a good roster and win a championship with, as the Braves showed the world. Don't expect him to be a cornerstone of your franchise. I'm just glad the Braves decided to move on when he rejected the original offer.
Swanson’s defense is elite, but I agree committing that much money to a below-average bat seems like a big overpay. The Cubs need more well rounded players to justify contracts like this. Hopefully, he proves us wrong!
I don't love this one. Is he overpaid? Sure, but he's an elite defender and in streaks can hit well with decent power. Certainly much worse contracts out there, Baez comes to mind. Always appreciate the videos and quality though 👍
I could be wrong but I think his FA year 22 was his best offensive season. That's at least one reason he got a big contract. I'm a Braves fan so it sucked to see him go.
I was sorry to see Dansby leave Atlanta, but Arcia is fine with the glove at $2 mil/year. Dansby is an average SS with the bat, Arcia is bad, so only the Cubs can say if they are happy with that contract. The Braves are still looking for a good SS.
Who sign Swanson to be their top hitter this guy makes no sense worst take ever. You just compared him to a 1B makes no sense. Name me 10 SS in the league over Swanson and this guy just downplayed what he can do next level.
coming off of one of his best seasons that FA, he was also the cheapest available option as SS for all top names. overpay is subjective when the market dictates it and changes each off season.
@@drewskis86when you are the chicago freakin cubs you have the ability to spend like the yankees and dodgers on players like turner or correa but instead they shop mid to bottom shelf. The lineup is full of dansby swansons
This is exactly why the Braves let him walk! He should have never been a number 1 overall draft pick. Now considering who my Braves traded in order to get him. The Diamondbacks figured that out quick. He's an amazing defensive player and durable. But the offense is nowhere near where it's supposed to be for number 1 pick
@13.yearslater Nope! If anything Arcia has a stronger throwing arm. Defensively they're about the same. On offense Swanson has more power. Yeah, you're pretty much right. I actually wish they would've kept Swanson because he's a hometown player like Olson. Oh, well!
I don't remember the last time the Braves has let anyone go that they couldn't replace or let go a person they didn't really need. With the exception of Freddie Freeman
@@kingrama2727 i know, but Olson ran out of gas this year. And Freeman was in the World Series hitting those homers, the kind that count to win games. oh, hello Pete Alonso
Sorry boss I think this is a miss. Statistically he’s pretty much our best player. Tough to find a SS who can hit so why not go all in on defense. He’ll play a full 162 next year after injuries this year. I’m glad he’s on the team
love s3x lettuce ; he was part of my Braves' magical 2021 run. but his best hitting year was the last year with the Braves...and that is not saying a lot. still, grateful for his 2 HRs in the 2021 WS. and i am glad he got his money from another team.
I made a reply but it’s likely not to be looked at. Your point of paying Swanson that much when the team isn’t good enough around him is smart, but the issue isn’t him. The issue is the team around him. Swanson ranked 8th in shortstops by war, and had a wRC+ of 108 last year. He’s not an elite bat and you’re right about that, but at the time the cubs thought Bellinger was going to be a great hitter, and it would’ve been fine to have a defensive specialist with a league average bat (which is above average for shortstops). I think if the cubs sign or trade for a good bat or two this off-season, having Swanson is great for the team. If not, it’s a front office not wanting to spend money issue, and the Swanson contract, though not a terrible one, just was wasted by not surrounding him with any bats. Issue isn’t dansby, it’s everything around him lacking
idk Dansby is a great defensive player paired up with Nico but I do agree it can be considered a bad contract because of his bat but i do think that he will bounce back next season at least i hope as a cubs fan
Dansby has won a gold glove, been an all star, and had one above average hitting season with us Last year wasn’t ideal, but still between the first two years I think he’s been delivering
Let’s chill with that. Swanson is our best player. Whenever he hits good is just an added bonus. It wasn’t good last year at the plate for him, but no one was good. He’s made only 16 errors in 2 years with the Cubs as a shortstop and only one was fielding. Well worth the money especially with the Dansby and Mallory advertising. If we plug a few good bats in the lineup he will pick it up at the plate a bit.
Brother come on. He's the best defender in baseball right now. His hitting is average but he is a FAR above average player. The mistake the Cubs made is thinking that he was going to be a consistent 110 - 120 OPS+ guy, his 2022 with the Braves was more or less his offensive ceiling. But 95 - 100 OPS+ is totally fine when you're playing platinum glove caliber defense at shortstop. In spite of his offense slipping to a shade below average he's totaled 9.2 fWAR in the last two years.
@@drewskis86 What? It hasn't. He had 20 OAA in 2022 and 2023, then had 18 in 2024. By DRS (which there's no real reason to use anymore) it's 9, 18, 7. You are very wrong.
The amount of hyperbole in this video is staggering. The Cubs would probably go back on this deal if they could choose, but calling it one of the worst contracts in baseball is just silly. Swanson is still playing great, he's arguably the best defender in baseball right now, with an insane 38 OAA over his Cubs tenure, and the bat has been fine, average. He's put together 9 WAR in the last two seasons (8.8 rWAR, 9.2 fWAR), by the free agent rule of thumb that 1 WAR is worth 8 million, he's been worth 36m a year, they're paying him 25m. The mistake the Cubs made was thinking that 2022 was the start of an offensive genesis that would turn him into a shortstop version of Matt Chapman, a franchise player that you can build a contender around. Instead, unsurprisingly, 2022 proved to be his offensive ceiling, and his bat regressed back to average. The fact is though that in spite of the hopes they may have had he's still an excellent player, platinum glove defense at shortstop + an average bat is worth what they're paying him, even if they wanted more. So yeah this video is pretty dumb.
@@evanbrandel7146Both of you are dumb. Nobody said it's the worst in baseball, it's the worst contract nobody talks about. Baez, Rendon, Story, etc-has been done to death.
@sirstuffie2.043 So Ozzie Smith is a bad player? Value is value, it doesn't matter if it comes from defending, base running, or hitting. That's literally the entire reason the stats exist, to be able to compare very different aspects of the game objectively.
@@MetsStudios25 if youre arguably the best defender in baseball at one of the most important defensive positions, and have league average offense and good baserunning, yes indeed you should be worth close to that much (being 25m)
He's a 4 WAR player both years.. he hits JUST under average and adds wins through all his other skills. This is crazy in comparison to true bad contracts. You have to overpay now (which I hate), but add his abilities to his clubhouse talent, and the guy is pulling it off. There are not 4 WAR SS left and right in this league.
You’ve got it all wrong, Xander Bogaerts is the worst contract because look at it from this standpoint: Ha-Seong Kim was already there, and the Padres got desperate to make a “big” and “good” move for themselves. They panicked and made a big move because of Aaron Judges contract
I got to disagree on this one Dansby is gonna give you plus value on the verge of just being a league average bat with elite defense. Maybe if the guy falls off a cliff ala Javy Baez we can talk
Teams gotta stop handcuffing themselves by giving out huge money for what a player has done in the past. Look at age and projectability. Cubs are paying Dansby the most money he's ever made for the worst years of his career.
The dansby singing was just Ricketts trying to show people that they would spend money. Same as the Suzuki signing the year before. The Dansby singing is even worse, when you realize the cubs will start another rebuild this summer.
Correct me if I'm wrong Andrelton Simmons went to the Angels after the Braves let him go, Swanson took his spot at SS for the Braves. Then Simmons signed a deal with the Cubs and was let go and then Swanson took his spot. I mean Simmons is better at Defense than Swanson so why did the Cubs let him go?
As a Cubs fan, Swanson is good. I do agree he was over payed and I honestly would've preferred Trea Turner over him during that off season with all those shortstops. You can always count Swanson on his great defense and speed. I do agree with the hitting, he is always producing at a solid level and has a solid bat, but not worth all that money. He can provide 15-20 home runs which is solid, but again, not worth that much. Swanson is a great guy and a good player, but I agree with what you were saying. As a side note, you should talk about Ian Happ, I honestly think he should be worth more than Swanson. Happ's contract is 3 years, $61 million, with him entering year 2 of that contract next year. He's a beast, with 25 HR's and 34 doubles last year with his 3rd straight gold glove earned in LF.
Thank you for making this video, I’ve always thought this guy was massively overrated. He was nowhere near the top of the SS market in his free agency year. Seeing a-lot of people use his defense as a means to justify that contract.
I think the Cubs did overpay for Swanson, but let's just be honest. He gives you Gold Glove defense at short and is a consistent 4 WAR a season. His bat is nothing more than average at best, but it's not like he never hits at all. He contributes, just not to the extend of deserving all that money.
Don’t agree with what you are saying, though his weaker offensive numbers this year are a valid cause for concern. However, it was still a respectful performance and was made up for by his incredible defense; his number made it it a surprise he didn’t win this third consecutive GG. That said, he took a GG the first year of his Cubs contract and finalist the second, at the most critical defensive position. On that point, if you recall, the Cubs signed him during the big SS FA battle when we had the confluence of the shift being banned (making the position even more important) and four of the best SS hitting FA; Correa, Turner, Bogaerts, and Swanson. The Cubs easily got the best deal of all those contracts; Turner bounced back offensively tafter initially struggling in Philly, Correa is nowhere near as good as projected (Giants and Mets made wise decisions), Bogaerts hasn’t played SS much at all in San Diego. And all cost WAY more than Swanson and none have his glove. The Cubs rake in so much money, the Swanson contract is a blip but even if they were cash strapoed it would not be considered “bad”.
These first two years were the one that they hoped for, but the next 5 will begin to degrade his defense sadly and the bat as well. If the deal was for 4-5 years it's solid. But shortstops don't age well. Granted he was signed after first year (so buying out arb and first year of FA) but the Rockies (weird they did something right) gave Ezekiel Tovar a 7 year $63.5m deal to get Swanson level D and a bat comparable (with more future upside given his age). I don't knock Swanson for getting the money but just really question that term.
Timeline's a bit off, he was a free agent the year after we got Freeman. People were seeing the "fit" because Lux hadn't(and still hasn't) panned out, we just lost Trea Turner, and his teammate in Freeman was already here.
This is such a bad take. By both fangraphs and bbref he’s been worth 4+ WAR per season over the past two seasons. That’s great value for the cost. You’re way overrating offensive production.
lol. This contract isn’t even in the running for worst contracts. Dans y is t lighting the world on fire but it isn’t an albatross like so many other contracts
Swanson is our best player in terms of bWAR. It's nowhere near the worst contract. If you want to win you have to spend. Every team that paid the tax made the playoffs.
We love you! Scary Stuff & Tacos!
Why is bro here
Milwaukee Brewers have entered the chat
Cubs need to get better pitchers! Cubs will be better next year!
Why should anyone care about bWAR? His hitting for 2/3 of the season was atrocious. He had very little positive impact on the team.
As a Padre fan, the worst contract no one is talking about is SD signing Xander Bogaerts. An incredible overpay, they didn't even need another SS. His numbers have taken a nose dive, and with his wrist issues, it seems like we'll never even get an amazing year with him on the roster.
One hundred percent we didn’t even need him and we spent almost 300 million?! We could’ve used that money to Sign another pitcher like fried or burnes and/or kim, adames
Maybe it's because I'm a Dodger fan, but even objectively, you can make the case the Padres have a ton of bad contracts.
Tatis Jr isn't one. That's legit a steal, even if he isn't putting up MVP numbers offensively like 2019-2021 anymore. An all-star caliber bat with great speed and GG caliber defense at 26?
Manny's looks really bad, especially in a couple years come 2027. He never should've been allowed to renegotiate if I was the Padres. 11/350? And it's massively BACK LOADED? He starts making a whopping 39M a year from that point. At 35. Until he's FORTY-TWO. And his offense and defense in the last couple seasons have already started to take a step back.
Darvish's looks bad too. 21M in 2025, and 16M, 15M, and 15M after THAT? He's injury prone, 38, and has already started declining. He gets paid until he's 42 as well.
Bogaerts literally hamstrings your franchise too. He's probably the reason you won't be able to pay Merrill in 5 years. 25.4M a year.......for 9 more years.......for a guy rapidly declining offensively and defensively.....He'll be 41 when that contract is up.
I agree with the last two and I understand the point about manny but he’s a lock for 100 rbi and about 30hr every year… can’t scoff at that
I still don't understand that contract. It feels like a consolidation or pity prize because Judge and Turner both said no. Feels like they wanted to sign Bogey just to say they signed a top free agent.
I think the padres should never have signed bogartes and kept Juan Soto, yes he wasn’t doing as well as he normally does on the padres but with Juan Soto and Tatis they’re both young and talented players that you want to keep on the team with years ahead of them. Signed older players on the decline with massive contracts is a bad move.
Huh? Swanson has put up WARs of 4.8 and 4.0 in his first two seasons with the Cubs at the single most important defensive position on the field. A solidly plus defensive shortstop with an approximately league average bat is a hugely valuable commodity, and he’s definitely lived up to his contract so far. I could name like a dozen worse contracts easily off the top of my head.
Swanson is a consistent 4 to 5 WAR guy. That is actually pretty good. The Cubs did overpay, but this is not a situation where they player is getting paid too much AND not performing at an expected level.
He's made $40m dollars and fangraphs says he's been worth $74 million dollars so far due to being worth 9.2 fWAR. I think you tremendously undervalue his defense and baserunning. It's also tough to find a bat at shortstop
but dude he’s gotta make content in the off season that’s made up controversy.
They should have just started a minor leaguer at that point as defensive players don't win ball games. Ask Jeter how many titles he has
The WAR stat is garbage.
That tells you how ridiculous war stats are. The first 4 months of the 2024 season, Swanson was one of the worst players in the league.
You’re forgetting the available options at SS when the Cubs signed Swanson. They literally took the worst option of the 4 guys available.
You’re also severely overrating what he does well.
He makes $25M a year, plays 81 home games at Wrigley, and hit 22 and 16 HRs in his first two seasons.
This is a terrible contract. It always was.
Javier Baez, Anthony Rendón, Kris Bryant, Stephen Strasburg. All way worse contracts.
dansby plays his role well and has earned his contract. great clubhouse guy, great person
I was sad to see him leave my Braves. But when I saw the contract he was given, I was thankful.
I love Dansby and I'd love to have him back in Atlanta. He's a damn good SS
He was vacuum at SS with the Braves. I thought he had many clutch, great ABs. I do miss Swanny but we were smart not to pay him what the Cubs have. Chop On!
To me the worst contract in mlb is bogaerts idk how nobody is talking about how a guy w suboptimal defense power and regressing hitting is on the book for the NEXT 9 YEARS! It’s absolutely insane I’d love to see you do a vid on that one I think it’s gonna end worse than the pujols contract
Wow, as a cubs fan I like seeing videos about my team... But not these😳
No one is expecting Swanson to be the best hitter on the team. He’s not Andrelton Simmons. Yes he is a defense first shortstop but he’s far from a sure out at the plate. He is there to, along with Hoerner and PCA, give the cubs by far the best defense up the middle in baseball
he'd be a much better fit on a team that has a ton of hitters. He was perfect in Atlanta. Chicago doesn't have many good bats and aren't that good of a team.
I would agree that the Cubs were the wrong team to give him that contract, he is clearly a defensive first shortstop so maybe the Cubs should first have a strong offense before worrying on spending money on defense, so they should've spent it on a better bat. However I would have to disagree with the point that he is overpaid, as his avg War so far has been around 4~4.5 since signing with the Cubs, and the avg $/War these past few offseasons has been between ~$4.5M/War and ~$8.5M/War. So even if we round down his yearly War to 4, 4*$4.5M = $18M and 4*$8.5M = $34M, so $28M is a bit high but wouldn't call it an overpay.
As a Cub fan, I really don’t think either Dansby’s or Cody’s contract are horrible.
This is such a bad take. Dansby's contract is perfectly reasonable for an elite defensive shortstop with roughly average offensive output. Back half might be rough but next 2-3 years will likely be fine
So, so far Dansby's made $45mil the last 2 years, and he has produced $74mil worth or production according to Fangraphs, because WAR has an measurable value. So it's hard to even make a claim at all that it's a bad deal, so I'm not sure why the claim is being made at this point? Since coming to the Cubs, Swanson's 9.3 fWAR ranks 5th behind Bobby Witt Jr, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, and Gunnar Henderson. Yes, Trea Turner's, 8.1 fWAR, Carlos Correa's 6.1 fWAR, and Xander Bogaerts 4.9 fWAR has been worse than Swanson's overall production, so think about that. And for the record, Dansby's gotten MVP votes 3 years, last being 2023 with the Cubs.
They definitely overpaid but Swanson has pretty much done what he always has done so the Cubs got what they should have expected.
If they re-unite Belli and Yelli, they could be unstoppable. An unmovable object and an unstoppable force. Someone needs to make it happen already, they are both gettin old.
If you consider all the factors such as aav, length, and production defensive and offensive. Swanson probably is the least awful contract from the batch of all star shortstops that off season.
Boegarts deal was insane and the money they gave Trevor Story in Boston was bad money after bad.
Correa when healthy is worth it. Seager already won a WS so Rangers are going to be happy forever.
It's the kid in Philadelphia that will probably be worth more than his already high salary.
League-average bat, gold glove-caliber short stop - I'd take that for my team any day. His contract might be a slight overpay, but not by much. His decline in power is concerning, though.
his bat is becoming below league-average now. He was a perfect fit on the Braves when he had a ton of great bats around him and he got better ABs. Chicago is a massive downgrade compared to Atlanta team-wise. Chicago is nowhere near being a contender.
@@jc24445 Dansby is still an average- slightly above average hitter, he was injured for most of the first half this year so his overall production was down, but he hit 281/352/443 in the second half after he healed.
@@skylla7452 he's only going to regress. A solid SS but only for a team that has a ton of hitters. Terrible fit for the Cubs because they don't exactly have that many good players.
@@jc24445 As long as Dansby keeps up his defense the Cubs will be fine, 4 players on the roster last year had on OPS+ above 110, Paredes will probably bounce back and make that 5. PCA and Amaya were both above average hitters in the second half and there are 5 MLB ready top 100 prospects in AAA.
@@skylla7452 Parades is on a downward trent, PCA has bust potential, Amaya is whatever, and prospects don't always pan out. The Cubs are big enough to where they shouldn't be "just fine". The franchise is just a money maker and that's it. They'll never win anything with the current management they have.
He has 9.2 fwar in 2 years with the Cubs. There are definitely worse contracts to talk about
Yeah, I don't get this. He's been as advertised for the entirety of his career
No it just shows how dumb the Cubs front office is. Overpay for mediocre players without any real vision of a contending team, they’re a big market team with no real intellect.
@@hymmz360 he’s not mediocre at all. His defensive is elite and in a good lineup he’d be amazing. Your point about the Cubs front office isn’t wrong but Swanson was a good signing
Did you not read what he said? The war put up by Swanson has made his contract, so far, a reasonably costed one. 4+ war is not mediocre @@hymmz360
Yeah this feels very clickbaity ngl…I get he’s mid at offense but I’d take a guy who’ll get you 4 war at a premium defensive position any day
You really didn’t think about this from any other perspective than an offensive perspective. Even then, he is an above average hitter with pop. Outside of that Dansby has one of if not the best gloves at shortstop in the league. The cubs pitching staff is far from a strikeout staff so his defense is much needed. Dansby is also a natural leader. As many people have already said in these comments, he’s really not being overpaid but it’s just the reality of the market. This is more of a problem with the cubs front office not adding more as one of the top markets in the sport. Not one of your better takes.
Big Cubs fan, not necessarily a big Dansby fan but..... I think it is unfair to evaluate this trade until 2 more years go by. The defense is wonderful & dependable - don't think pitchers like that?- and I think he may be capable of a couple of decent offensive seasons without any expectation of MVP. As always: there's always next year. Cool Correa comparison [alliteration always America].
Like did they really expect Swanson to be hitting like in the .300s consistently? That's not who he is. And it's not like he's getting paid THAT much in that many years as well. I would've gone with the Correa or Bogaerts contracts since they can't stay healthy.
At least theyre not paying jordan Montgomery 22mil to play for the opposing team every time he pitches
Oh us Braves fans talk about it. He's a good player but not worth near that much.
He's a great defensive player who doesn't always hit. He's a good to very good player, not a great player. What used to be called a "'steady " player. Yes, an overpay, and always will be.
I mean....he at least brings superb defense to the table with an about average bat. He isn't atrocious, but yeah, not really worth the $25M~ per year he is getting paid, and for 7 years. If it were closer to $20M AAV and like a 4-5 year deal, sure. But I also think the contract was a product of that particular off-season having a ton of shortstops receiving MASSIVE contracts/extensions.
I think you are underestimating the value of a very good defensive shortstop who can hit at or near league average.
As a Braves fan; I was all for re-signing Dansby UNTIL I saw the original offer from the Braves he rejected. If I remember it correctly it was reported to be around $20 mil a year for 5 or 6 years, which at the time sounded like the perfect offer for a defensive first shortstop having a career year. Tbh, if he didn't have that career year I would've been mad if he got anything more than $18 mil a year. When he rejected it, and it was also reported he wanted more and an extra year, I was DEFINITELY okay with the Braves letting him go. Then when I saw how much, and how long, the contract he got from the Cubs was I knew he wouldn't be able to live up to that contract.
He's a good shortstop, no doubt about it, but he isn't anywhere near worth what he's getting paid. Thats star money and he simply isn't a star, he's a piece you can plug into a good roster and win a championship with, as the Braves showed the world. Don't expect him to be a cornerstone of your franchise. I'm just glad the Braves decided to move on when he rejected the original offer.
He needs to hit a lot better next year, probably isn't the worst contract though, playing shortstop all year is not easy.
Swanson’s defense is elite, but I agree committing that much money to a below-average bat seems like a big overpay. The Cubs need more well rounded players to justify contracts like this. Hopefully, he proves us wrong!
I don't love this one. Is he overpaid? Sure, but he's an elite defender and in streaks can hit well with decent power. Certainly much worse contracts out there, Baez comes to mind. Always appreciate the videos and quality though 👍
Ngl i do miss him on the braves. Theres barely anyone left from the rebuilding years.
I could be wrong but I think his FA year 22 was his best offensive season. That's at least one reason he got a big contract. I'm a Braves fan so it sucked to see him go.
I was sorry to see Dansby leave Atlanta, but Arcia is fine with the glove at $2 mil/year. Dansby is an average SS with the bat, Arcia is bad, so only the Cubs can say if they are happy with that contract. The Braves are still looking for a good SS.
Who sign Swanson to be their top hitter this guy makes no sense worst take ever. You just compared him to a 1B makes no sense. Name me 10 SS in the league over Swanson and this guy just downplayed what he can do next level.
Hey, check and compare the annual average salary of Swansons vs real stars. Oh I’ve been a Cubs fan since 1962.
Even at the time I thought it was on overpay for a defensive first mid bat, the only reason he was praised was because he was a high draft pick
coming off of one of his best seasons that FA, he was also the cheapest available option as SS for all top names. overpay is subjective when the market dictates it and changes each off season.
@@drewskis86when you are the chicago freakin cubs you have the ability to spend like the yankees and dodgers on players like turner or correa but instead they shop mid to bottom shelf. The lineup is full of dansby swansons
@ it boggles my mind. extremely frustrating as a fan
Watch Dansby hit 30 homers next year
He’s never hit that many. Usually around 15-25. With .230-.240 avg
What about Bogaerts? That guy wasn’t even needed and they paid him 300 million
This is exactly why the Braves let him walk! He should have never been a number 1 overall draft pick. Now considering who my Braves traded in order to get him. The Diamondbacks figured that out quick. He's an amazing defensive player and durable. But the offense is nowhere near where it's supposed to be for number 1 pick
I mean Orlando Arica isn’t better than Swanson to be honest
@13.yearslater Nope! If anything Arcia has a stronger throwing arm. Defensively they're about the same. On offense Swanson has more power. Yeah, you're pretty much right. I actually wish they would've kept Swanson because he's a hometown player like Olson. Oh, well!
@@jlawhonestmusic6565 lol defensively the same? we cant be talking about the same two players...
@Someone-hi1nt Lol.....yeah, look up the defensive WAR Arcia just has a stronger throwing arm. That's it
@@jlawhonestmusic6565 yeah, swanson is a far superior defender to arcia, its not even close lol
Worst contract? It’s just fluffed up the value of the company, and his contract is incentivized. Win/win for them.
I don't remember the last time the Braves has let anyone go that they couldn't replace or let go a person they didn't really need. With the exception of Freddie Freeman
Freeman is a MASSIVE exception. Us Dodgers fans thank you. 😂🎉
Sorry brother. As a dodger fan, i salute your sacrifice!
They replaced Freeman with Matt Olson.
@@kingrama2727 i know, but Olson ran out of gas this year. And Freeman was in the World Series hitting those homers, the kind that count to win games. oh, hello Pete Alonso
@ true but the point is you guys said the Braves let Freeman go with no replacement. Olson is a perfectly capable 1st baseman, he’s not some scrub…
Sorry boss I think this is a miss. Statistically he’s pretty much our best player. Tough to find a SS who can hit so why not go all in on defense. He’ll play a full 162 next year after injuries this year. I’m glad he’s on the team
Blake Snell signed with the Dodgers.
love s3x lettuce ; he was part of my Braves' magical 2021 run.
but his best hitting year was the last year with the Braves...and that is not saying a lot.
still, grateful for his 2 HRs in the 2021 WS. and i am glad he got his money from another team.
I made a reply but it’s likely not to be looked at. Your point of paying Swanson that much when the team isn’t good enough around him is smart, but the issue isn’t him. The issue is the team around him. Swanson ranked 8th in shortstops by war, and had a wRC+ of 108 last year. He’s not an elite bat and you’re right about that, but at the time the cubs thought Bellinger was going to be a great hitter, and it would’ve been fine to have a defensive specialist with a league average bat (which is above average for shortstops). I think if the cubs sign or trade for a good bat or two this off-season, having Swanson is great for the team. If not, it’s a front office not wanting to spend money issue, and the Swanson contract, though not a terrible one, just was wasted by not surrounding him with any bats. Issue isn’t dansby, it’s everything around him lacking
He is averaging in the .240s for the cubs, that is definitely overpay, but he is a good defender.
idk Dansby is a great defensive player paired up with Nico but I do agree it can be considered a bad contract because of his bat but i do think that he will bounce back next season at least i hope as a cubs fan
The Dansby BelliWard contract is the worst! Lol. They should trade for Rendon and Bryant as well.... Get the band back together!
EVERY player in MLB is rediculously overpayed to PLAY baseball!
Dansby has won a gold glove, been an all star, and had one above average hitting season with us
Last year wasn’t ideal, but still between the first two years I think he’s been delivering
His contract isn't nearly as bad as Xander Bogaerts.
Cub talk studios is crazy💀💀💀
personally I miss him in ATL
Time to put some stock in a top 10 mvp finish for dansby next year.
Interesting analysis but the rays should be in Tampa bro
"Yeah the cubs suck!"
- A cardinals fan in the midst of a franchise "reset" (Rebuild)
Let’s chill with that. Swanson is our best player. Whenever he hits good is just an added bonus. It wasn’t good last year at the plate for him, but no one was good. He’s made only 16 errors in 2 years with the Cubs as a shortstop and only one was fielding. Well worth the money especially with the Dansby and Mallory advertising. If we plug a few good bats in the lineup he will pick it up at the plate a bit.
Another stupid contract. They overpay for average players while not going after the REAL stars. They think cheap small market.
Brother come on. He's the best defender in baseball right now. His hitting is average but he is a FAR above average player. The mistake the Cubs made is thinking that he was going to be a consistent 110 - 120 OPS+ guy, his 2022 with the Braves was more or less his offensive ceiling. But 95 - 100 OPS+ is totally fine when you're playing platinum glove caliber defense at shortstop.
In spite of his offense slipping to a shade below average he's totaled 9.2 fWAR in the last two years.
@@hankglidden1463 i think its worth mentioning his defense has taken steps BACK each year for the last 3 years as well as his hitting.
@@drewskis86 What? It hasn't. He had 20 OAA in 2022 and 2023, then had 18 in 2024. By DRS (which there's no real reason to use anymore) it's 9, 18, 7. You are very wrong.
The best consistent defender on the Cubs. It is by far not the worst contract. Again, ITalk I must know, do you hate the Cubs?
@ I can get an excellent shortstop for far less money, then what I save can be put towards a better player.
cubs makes so much money but love to penny pinch lol
The amount of hyperbole in this video is staggering. The Cubs would probably go back on this deal if they could choose, but calling it one of the worst contracts in baseball is just silly. Swanson is still playing great, he's arguably the best defender in baseball right now, with an insane 38 OAA over his Cubs tenure, and the bat has been fine, average. He's put together 9 WAR in the last two seasons (8.8 rWAR, 9.2 fWAR), by the free agent rule of thumb that 1 WAR is worth 8 million, he's been worth 36m a year, they're paying him 25m.
The mistake the Cubs made was thinking that 2022 was the start of an offensive genesis that would turn him into a shortstop version of Matt Chapman, a franchise player that you can build a contender around. Instead, unsurprisingly, 2022 proved to be his offensive ceiling, and his bat regressed back to average.
The fact is though that in spite of the hopes they may have had he's still an excellent player, platinum glove defense at shortstop + an average bat is worth what they're paying him, even if they wanted more. So yeah this video is pretty dumb.
Facts man, die hard cubs fan I agree. Overpay yes, worst in baseball not even close
@@evanbrandel7146Both of you are dumb. Nobody said it's the worst in baseball, it's the worst contract nobody talks about. Baez, Rendon, Story, etc-has been done to death.
The whole 1 WAR is worth 8 million is silly because if u can get all ur WAR from fielding only u still shouldn't be worth more than 15 million
@sirstuffie2.043 So Ozzie Smith is a bad player? Value is value, it doesn't matter if it comes from defending, base running, or hitting. That's literally the entire reason the stats exist, to be able to compare very different aspects of the game objectively.
@@MetsStudios25 if youre arguably the best defender in baseball at one of the most important defensive positions, and have league average offense and good baserunning, yes indeed you should be worth close to that much (being 25m)
Next bad contract breakdown: Xander Bogarts 11yr/$280M.
Imagine Dansby has his best season in 2025 and this is like what happened with Lindor
He's a 4 WAR player both years.. he hits JUST under average and adds wins through all his other skills. This is crazy in comparison to true bad contracts. You have to overpay now (which I hate), but add his abilities to his clubhouse talent, and the guy is pulling it off. There are not 4 WAR SS left and right in this league.
You’ve got it all wrong, Xander Bogaerts is the worst contract because look at it from this standpoint: Ha-Seong Kim was already there, and the Padres got desperate to make a “big” and “good” move for themselves. They panicked and made a big move because of Aaron Judges contract
something must be wrong, the headline says worst contract in baseball but the pic doesn't show Rafael Devers. oh wait its iTalk lol
Huh lol
I got to disagree on this one Dansby is gonna give you plus value on the verge of just being a league average bat with elite defense. Maybe if the guy falls off a cliff ala Javy Baez we can talk
As a Braves fan, we love Dansby in Braves country, but this is why we were OK with him leaving. We knew it was a massive overpay.
Teams gotta stop handcuffing themselves by giving out huge money for what a player has done in the past. Look at age and projectability. Cubs are paying Dansby the most money he's ever made for the worst years of his career.
The dansby singing was just Ricketts trying to show people that they would spend money. Same as the Suzuki signing the year before. The Dansby singing is even worse, when you realize the cubs will start another rebuild this summer.
Swanson is a one trick pony and the Cubs can only hope to be successful as the champion Dodgers
Correct me if I'm wrong Andrelton Simmons went to the Angels after the Braves let him go, Swanson took his spot at SS for the Braves. Then Simmons signed a deal with the Cubs and was let go and then Swanson took his spot. I mean Simmons is better at Defense than Swanson so why did the Cubs let him go?
You are wrong. He was traded to the angels, and he didn't play for the cubs until 2022, last year of his career.
simmons played less than 2 months with the cubs and was worth negative value with an ops+ at 23
me when i lie
Glad AA didn't pay up in 2022
An elite defensive shortstop with some pop who doesn't get hurt often is playing exactly as expected
Wrong. Zeronpop.
Not worth anywhere near 25M+ a year, which is the point.
As a Cubs fan, Swanson is good. I do agree he was over payed and I honestly would've preferred Trea Turner over him during that off season with all those shortstops. You can always count Swanson on his great defense and speed. I do agree with the hitting, he is always producing at a solid level and has a solid bat, but not worth all that money. He can provide 15-20 home runs which is solid, but again, not worth that much. Swanson is a great guy and a good player, but I agree with what you were saying.
As a side note, you should talk about Ian Happ, I honestly think he should be worth more than Swanson. Happ's contract is 3 years, $61 million, with him entering year 2 of that contract next year. He's a beast, with 25 HR's and 34 doubles last year with his 3rd straight gold glove earned in LF.
Who cares ricketts has plenty of money to spare lmao
He’s not that bad this is a pretty bad take as a cubs fan
Thank you for making this video, I’ve always thought this guy was massively overrated. He was nowhere near the top of the SS market in his free agency year. Seeing a-lot of people use his defense as a means to justify that contract.
I think the Cubs did overpay for Swanson, but let's just be honest. He gives you Gold Glove defense at short and is a consistent 4 WAR a season. His bat is nothing more than average at best, but it's not like he never hits at all. He contributes, just not to the extend of deserving all that money.
Not as bad as mannys hes going to make 40 mill at age 40
Maybe the worst contract in baseball??? Did you forget about Rendon with the Angels?
The title says “the worst contract nobody talks about” everyone knows the Rendon contract is a joke.
Don’t agree with what you are saying, though his weaker offensive numbers this year are a valid cause for concern. However, it was still a respectful performance and was made up for by his incredible defense; his number made it it a surprise he didn’t win this third consecutive GG. That said, he took a GG the first year of his Cubs contract and finalist the second, at the most critical defensive position.
On that point, if you recall, the Cubs signed him during the big SS FA battle when we had the confluence of the shift being banned (making the position even more important) and four of the best SS hitting FA; Correa, Turner, Bogaerts, and Swanson. The Cubs easily got the best deal of all those contracts; Turner bounced back offensively tafter initially struggling in Philly, Correa is nowhere near as good as projected (Giants and Mets made wise decisions), Bogaerts hasn’t played SS much at all in San Diego. And all cost WAY more than Swanson and none have his glove.
The Cubs rake in so much money, the Swanson contract is a blip but even if they were cash strapoed it would not be considered “bad”.
These first two years were the one that they hoped for, but the next 5 will begin to degrade his defense sadly and the bat as well. If the deal was for 4-5 years it's solid. But shortstops don't age well.
Granted he was signed after first year (so buying out arb and first year of FA) but the Rockies (weird they did something right) gave Ezekiel Tovar a 7 year $63.5m deal to get Swanson level D and a bat comparable (with more future upside given his age). I don't knock Swanson for getting the money but just really question that term.
As a Braves fan, I knew right away that it was a horrible deal. He's average at best.
You’re dumb
Dansby Swanson is meh.
I remember a few years back the Dodgers were interested in him.........glad we decided to take World Series MVP 🏆Freddie Freeman instead 🤘
Timeline's a bit off, he was a free agent the year after we got Freeman.
People were seeing the "fit" because Lux hadn't(and still hasn't) panned out, we just lost Trea Turner, and his teammate in Freeman was already here.
Do Eric Gagne
Mlb The Show?
Kush
Xander literally exists
This guy is does not know what he is talking about. The guy is an elite defender and a solid hitter. Horrible video.
This is such a bad take. By both fangraphs and bbref he’s been worth 4+ WAR per season over the past two seasons. That’s great value for the cost. You’re way overrating offensive production.
Bogaerts contract is MUCH worse.
His hitting is not worth $25M
I don’t care about his defense and base running
You can’t justify $25M for league average hitting
Right, because defense has zero value..... lol
This video is just a quick reminder that bro is not an expert. Just a fan like us.
Dansby is the 🐐
Mid....just like the Cubs
lol. This contract isn’t even in the running for worst contracts. Dans y is t lighting the world on fire but it isn’t an albatross like so many other contracts