Philadelphia Phillies: Meet your new shortstop, Didi Gregorius

The Philadelphia Phillies continued their busy offseason by bringing in free agent Didi Gregorius on a one-year deal, so what can we expect from him?

There is a limit to how much money the Philadelphia Phillies are willing to spend on their team. But, even while trying to be cost-conscious, the team felt that Didi Gregorius for one year at $14 million was just to good to pass up.

And there really is a lot to like here.

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The Phillies get a discount season (yes, $14 million is a “discount” nowadays) for a proven player who will turn 30 years old during spring training. It’s a contract that wouldn’t have been possible had Gregorius not missed half of 2019 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, which is rare but not unheard of for position players.

As a result, there is no doubt some skittishness around the league about Gregorius’ long-term ability to stay healthy, with many taking a “wait and see” approach and monitoring how he will hold up over a full season.

And it turns out that the Phillies will be the test case for Gregorius to show that he is worthy of a long-term commitment from someone.

The Phillies are taking a calculated risk that the Gregorius of 2016-2018 who managed a handful of “down the ballot” MVP votes and averaged 24 home runs and 81 RBI per season for the New York Yankees will fully re-emerge to become a potent lineup piece.

Surprisingly, the rates of those power numbers actually escalated during Gregorius’ return from Tommy John last season.

But then again, Freddy Galvis hit 23 home runs last season, so there was clearly something in the water all around baseball. Or in the balls.

Regardless, it was very encouraging to see Gregorius seemingly at full power with his swing, no easy task after major elbow surgery. He figures to be even more comfortable with it as he gears up for 2020 with a new club.

And although Gregorius has never won a Gold Glove, he is acknowledged as a very good defender, and the Phillies should be quite pleased to have him offer strong support up the middle to their pitching staff.

Gregorius’ signing seemingly creates a domino effect for the Phillies. The displaced Jean Segura will most likely head over to third base where he can keep the seat warm for top prospect Alec Bohm so that the Phillies don’t feel a need to rush him up from the minors.

Segura does have two more years on his contract after 2020, but the Phillies could be looking for a possible trade partner for him as soon as the middle of next season if they deem Bohm ready for big-league duty.

This should also clarify the situation for Scott Kingery and send him to second base for good after the departure of Cesar Hernandez. The Phillies can knock it off with the outfield nonsense for Kingery.

Finally, this makes it highly unlikely that the Phillies pursue Anthony Rendon any further unless they manage to trade Segura and/or other payroll-munching player(s) in the near future to give them the financial wherewithal to do so.

It’s possible that the Phillies’ offense is now basically set after the addition of Mariekson Julius Gregorius, who should be highly motivated playing on a one-year “show me” contract.

Next. Phillies Potential Target: Alex Wood. dark

I’m personally liking the chances that there will be many Gregorian chants down at Citizens Bank Park in 2020 for the man they call “Didi”.

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