Nick Swisher was released by the Atlanta Braves days before the beginning of the season. Now that the season is more than a month old and the Braves look like a potentially historically bad team, Swisher is pleased that Atlanta showed him the door, saying as much to Tim Casey of Vice Sports.
“Being released by the Braves in the long run is gonna be the best thing that ever happened to me, man,” Swisher said. “I’m actually happy that it did happen because after seeing what’s going on over there, I don’t know if that’s where I would want to be right now.”
Now, if Swisher had caught on with another Major League team, this wouldn’t be all that noteworthy. At this point, any MLB team looks like a much better situation than what’s going on it Atlanta.
But alas, that did not happen. Swisher is stuck in the Minors, playing for the Triple-A 2016 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, a New York Yankees affiliate.
It’s also notable that while they’re a far cry from Atlanta, Swisher’s parent organization is also struggling thus far. The Yankees presently occupy last place in the American League East.
Lastly, Swisher isn’t exactly thriving in the minors. In 22 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the former All-Star has hit three home runs and is slashing at .258/.280/.382. We can’t quite get into the head of New York’s front office, but MLB teams usually aren’t looking to call up 35-year-old players that are toiling in mediocrity in the minors.
To recap. Swisher is not in the majors, not affiliated with a good Major League club, and not even doing particularly well in the minors. None of that seems to matter to Nick Swisher, who clearly prefers that existence to being a MLB player with the Braves.
It’s fair to say that Atlanta has hit rock bottom.