To give him his due, Orlando Arcia isn’t a journeyman. He’s 28. He has played for two MLB clubs. He has started 545 big-league games, 476 at shortstop. He was Milwaukee’s shortstop from 2016 through 2020. As a Brewer, he started 13 postseason games. The Braves acquired him in April 2021 for pitchers Chad Sobotka and Patrick Weigel.
Arcia was the part of the shortstop competition nobody noticed. Most of us figured the job was Vaughn Grissom’s to win. On Monday, the Braves sent Grissom – and Braden Shewmake, a rookie also in the positional mix – to the minors. Thus has an All-Star shortstop been replaced, at least for the moment, by the owner of a 2.8 career WAR.
Dansby Swanson’s WAR last season was 5.7. His contract with the Cubs is $177M over seven seasons. That’s why he’s no longer a Brave. (Not that exhibition numbers mean anything, but Swanson is 2-for-31 with his new team. Cubs manager David Ross has voiced the boilerplate “not-worried” endorsement.)
