Swanson crossed the 10-year MLB service threshold on July 27, per a Cubs announcement — locking in full CBA pension and medical benefits. The 10-and-5 trade veto rights everyone associates with the milestone don't apply yet, and his existing no-trade clause makes them moot regardless.

The Chicago Cubs announced before Sunday's game in St. Louis that shortstop Dansby Swanson has accrued 10 years of MLB service time, crossing a threshold written into the collective bargaining agreement as one of the sport's career landmarks. Under the CBA, the marker triggers full pension eligibility and maximum medical coverage for life — the parts that actually matter to a player.

The part that gets discussed in trade rumors — 10-and-5 veto rights, which let a player block any trade unconditionally — doesn't apply here, and in Swanson's case it wouldn't change anything if it did. Those rights require 10 years of service and five consecutive years with the same club. Swanson is wrapping up his fourth season with the Cubs, having spent his first six-plus in Atlanta. His 10-and-5 clock won't complete until after 2027. It's also irrelevant: the seven-year, $177 million deal he signed with Chicago in December 2022 carries a full no-trade clause for its entire length through 2029 — the contractual version of the same protection, already in force.

What the milestone actually captures is the career arc. Swanson was doing legitimate work before the heel contusion that landed him on the 10-day IL in early July — .258/.343/.409 with 2.9 WAR through 83 games when he went down. He's managed 13 home runs and 49 RBI on the season despite the absence, per ESPN. The Cubs are 59-46 and buying pitching ahead of the August 3 deadline; Jed Hoyer told the Chicago Sun-Times the players being floated as trade chips are "the players that next year may be impacting us." Swanson, clearly, stays.

Ten years in. Still the guy.