Braves reportedly made an in-season offer in the $100 million range to Dansby Swanson

Free agency for Major League Baseball will get underway next week and the biggest storyline for the Atlanta Braves this offseason remains at shortstop where Dansby Swanson is a free agent for the first time in his career. The two sides reportedly began discussions around the All-Star break on a possible new deal and Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in October that the two sides had exchanged numbers.

Jon Heyman adds to that report saying that the Braves offer was for around $100 million and added that Swanson’s preference was to remain in Atlanta.

The Braves made an opening offer in-season to star shortstop Dansby Swanson, and sources suggested it was in the $100 million ballpark. The friend thought Swanson, a Georgia product, preferred to stay in Atlanta. That’s probably just a start, but it sounded like there’s work to do.

It is also worth a reminder that you should remain skeptical of most rumors in free agency, especially those with dollar amounts. Still, given what we learned about the Braves’ pursuit of Freddie Freeman last offseason, a $100 million offer sounds reasonable as a starting point to discussions.

Swanson put together a breakout season in his walk year. He won the first Gold Glove Award of his career earlier this week and is a finalist for a Silver Slugger Award as well. Still, it remains to be seen what his market will be with three top line shortstops in Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts also hitting the market this offseason. Swanson is probably the best defender of the group, but the other three have more impressive track records offensively.

There is likely still some wiggle room in the Braves offer and it still feels like the $140 million deals signed last season by Javier Baez in Detroit and Trevor Story in Boston could be comparable to what Swanson ultimately receives.