It would seem that if the Philadelphia Phillies want to add a starting shortstop before the start of the 2021 season in free agency, it’s going to have to be Didi Gregorius.
Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons and Freddy Galvis all signed elsewhere today, taking one-year deals. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that Gregorius, who spent the 2020 season with the Phillies, is targeting a two-year/$30 million deal.
It would seem, as Heyman notes, that the two suitors for Gregorius are the Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds, his original team. Given the measures that the Reds have gone to this offseason to cut costs, it would seem to be a strange strategy for them to issue a two-year/$30 million deal to a 30-year-old shortstop, but their entire plan this winter has been perplexing.
After inking a one-year/$14 million deal with the Phillies in free agency last winter, Gregorius was excellent in the pandemic-shortened season, slashing .284/.339/.488 with 10 home runs, 40 RBIs and an .827 OPS.
The Phillies had the ninth-best offense in baseball in 2020, and reportedly reached a new five-year deal to bring back J.T. Realmuto earlier in the day. If Gregorius is ultimately re-signed, the Phillies would essentially be running things back with their lineup from 2020, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea with a full season of Alec Bohm in store.
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