Dansby Swanson is a two-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and the owner of a seven-year, $177 million contract. He's achieved things most baseball players can only dream on, though his path to success was hardly a straight line.Swanson was traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Atlanta Braves as a minor leaguer in Dec. 2015, a mere six months after being selected with the number-1 overall pick in the MLB draft.More news: Beloved MLB Agent Who Negotiated Largest Contract in Franchise History DiesSwanson, 31, took the trade hard.In a new interview on the Diggin' Deep podcast, the Cubs' shortstop opened up about how he struggled mightily with alcohol and mental health after the trade, and even after he debuted with the Braves in 2016."I looked at it more from the lens of '(the Diamondbacks) don't want me,' and not, 'wow, Atlanta is like, they want me.' I was looking at it more from a negative space," Swanson said."This just shows you how down bad I was," he continued. "After '17, I was living in Nashville at the time. I was living by myself and, like, I didn't leave my condo. I was in it, I would go to bed super late. I wasn't eating. I was drinking too much, not eating. I remember I had this massive jar of animal crackers on my nightstand. I would be so hungry because I wasn't eating throughout the day. That's all I was eating — like, in the middle of the night, I'd wake up starving, have some animal crackers, go back to sleep, wake up — and I was just treating myself horribly."Swanson called it "the lowest of low" during his baseball journey, a period of time that lasted three weeks to a month. He said nobody knew about his struggles then, but former major league utility player Jace Peterson and his wife helped him dig "out of the hole."More news: MLB News: Pitcher Plays Catch With Fan in New York's Central ParkSwanson's wife, Mallory, helped too. Mallory Swanson is a professional soccer player with the NWSL's Chicago Stars FC."We both picked each other up out of a rough spot," Dansby Swanson said.More news: Decorated Two-Time Super Bowl Champion, MLB Outfielder Dies at 84In 29 games with the Cubs this season, the third year of his seven-year contract, Swanson is slashing .181/.232/.345.For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.