KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Erick Aybar and Nick Swisher are well into their 30s and, after trades, find themselves with the rebuilding Atlanta Braves.
As they prepare for another season, both switch-hitters are in the final years of their contracts and neither knows how long he will be around.
Aybar, a 32-year-old shortstop, came to the Braves along with two pitching prospects in a five-player deal that sent young shortstop Andrelton Simmons to the Los Angeles Angels, the only organization he had known.
“That’s a long time with one team, but that’s baseball. Anything can happen,” Aybar said Sunday. “I said thank you for all the years in Anaheim, but I’m on a new team so I’m going to come here and work every day, just like I did. If somebody takes you (in a trade), it’s for a good reason.”
The reason is to be Atlanta’s starting shortstop, at least for a while. That’s all Aybar needed to know when Braves general manager John Coppolella called him in November to tell him about the trade.