Thoughts after Didi Gregorius signs with the Phillies

(Presswire)

The Sir Didi era is over. Gregorius has joined Joe Girardi's Phillies on a one-year contract worth $14M. I am sad and also kinda annoyed. The Yankees better sign Gerrit Cole now. Anyway, here are my thoughts on Didi's deal and where the Yankees go from here.

1. Appreciating Sir Didi. When the Yankees originally acquired Gregorius, he was an all-glove/no-hit 25-year-old tasked with replacing Derek Jeter. He made four errors (and several baserunning mistakes) in his first 20 games in pinstripes and the Yankee Stadium crowd chanted "De-Rek Je-Ter!" after each mistake. Fast forward five years and Gregorius departs as a fan favorite and one of the most productive shortstops in franchise history. He ranks seventh among Yankees shortstops in WAR and a) he played fewer games than all six guys ahead of him, including at least 430 fewer games than five of the six guys ahead of him, and b) only one of the six ahead of him played a game after 1965. It is in no way a stretch to say Gregorius is the second best Yankees shortstop of the last half-century. Here are Sir Didi's ranks among all shortstops the last five years (min. 2,000 plate appearances for rate stats):

• AVG: .269 (13th)
• OBP: .313 (14th)
• SLG: .446 (8th)
• wRC+: 101 (14th)
• HR: 97 (5th)
• WAR: +13.9 (10th)

Gregorius was a top 10-ish shortstop these last five years and he was significant better than that from 2017-18, when he hit .277/.326/.486 (115 wRC+) and trailed only Francisco Lindor and Andrelton Simmons in WAR. His game-tying three-home run in the 2017 AL Wild Card Game (video) is arguably the team's single biggest hit since the 2009 World Series and his two home runs against Corey Kluber in Game 5 of the 2017 ALDS (video) helped the Yankees complete the improbable series comeback. I was a Gregorius skeptic back in the day -- here's the original RAB post on the trade -- and I've never been more happy to be wrong. I can understand some of the reasons why the Yankees let Gregorius walk (low OBP, major surgery last year, save payroll space for Cole, etc.), but I don't have to like it. Sir Didi is an all-time fave and I will miss watching him play and pal around with his teammates in his dugout, and I'll miss the postgame tweets. Replacing Jeter could not have gone any better.

2. Possible alternatives. As I've said the last few weeks, I very much wanted the Yankees to re-sign Gregorius, especially once it was reported he was willing to take a one-year deal. I'm pretty annoyed the Yankees let him walk on that small a contract. I know it's not as simple as matching the offer and getting the player, but damn yo, the Yankees couldn't play in that sandbox? Blah. I still want the Yankees to add another shortstop capable middle infielder to pair with Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu, forming a three-headed middle infield monster. The problem is the free agent market doesn't have much to offer. Here are the top available free agent middle infielders according to projected 2020 WAR:

1. Cesar Hernandez: +2.1 WAR
2. Brian Dozier: +1.7 WAR
3. Asdrubal Cabrera: +1.6 WAR
4. Addison Russell: +1.4 WAR
5. Jason Kipnis & Jose Iglesias: +1.3 WAR

Dozier and Kipnis can't play shortstop, Cabrera is only an emergency option at shortstop at this point of his career, Iglesias can't hit, and Russell is a hard no. Hernandez is a pesky little player with speed and on-base ability, and he's a good defender at second. He has played shortstop in the past but not much, and I don't know whether he's viable there, even as a backup. On the trade market there's ... Niko Goodrum? Orlando Arcia? Whit Merrifield would be a wonderful addition but it'll hurt to get him. The Royals have reportedly set a high asking price. Enrique Hernandez would fit and Bob Nightengale says he's available. Not sure what the Dodgers want in return though. Merrifield is not a realistic target given the asking price, so I guess that means the Hernandezes are the best possible Gregorius replacements, and that's only if it doesn't take an arm and a leg to get Enrique, or if you believe Cesar can play shortstop. More than likely, the Yankees will roll with Gleyber and LeMahieu as their full-time middle infielders and not rotate guys around. It's fine. Not as good as it could be, but it's fine. "We have a lot of flexibility because of the choices that we currently possess, and those choices aren’t limited just to the in-house options. It could be obviously out-house, going outside the franchise with trades or free agency at the same time," Brian Cashman told Brendan Kuty when asked about replacing Gregorius.

3. Gleyber at shortstop. I've written this a few times the last two years, but whenever Torres slides over to play shortstop, he looks much more comfortable defensively than he does at second base. That makes sense seeing how shortstop is Gleyber's natural position. It wasn't until 2016 that he began to play second base regularly to prepare him for a big league role, and he still has only 197 career games worth of experience at second. Only a little more than one full season. Here are the relatively small sample size defensive numbers:

• Second base: -8 DRS and -12.0 UZR in 1,463 innings
• Shortstop: +1 DRS and -2.1 UZR in 811.2 innings

Torres gets himself in trouble sometimes when he tries to ole the ball off to his side rather than get in front of it, but, by and large, his actions are smoother and more natural at short. I think he'll be more than fine at the position. Stick him there full-time without bouncing back and forth between short and second, and I think he'll be a +5 defender once he gets settled in. The tools are there. LeMahieu will be more than fine at second base. Defensively, the best infield alignment has Gio Urshela at third, Gregorius at short, and LeMahieu at second. Gleyber at short with LeMahieu and Urshela flanking him is the next best thing now that Sir Didi gone. I don't expect the Yankees to take much of a hit defensively with Gregorius gone. Keeping him around was more about having as many good players as possible, and not suffering as big a hit when someone rests or gets injured. I'm not worried about Torres at shortstop defensively. He makes careless mistakes from time to time but he has the tools, instincts, and athleticism to play the position and play it well. "We played extremely well with Gleyber at short last year for an extended period of time. If we were ready to plug and play if we’re starting the season today, our fallback, we’re comfortable with," Cashman told Kuty.

4. LeMahieu extension. Do the Yankees have to extend LeMahieu now? They can't let Gregorius and LeMahieu leave in back-to-back offseasons, can they? There are no notable middle infield prospects coming up through the farm system anytime soon to pair with Torres, unless you really believe in Tyler Wade or Thairo Estrada. I suppose the Yankees could sign Gregorius as a free agent next winter, but if they didn't bring him back on a one-year deal this year, I can't see them signing him next offseason. Either it'll take a multi-year contract (because he bounces back) or he won't be worth a roster spot (because he continues to struggle). The problem with extending LeMahieu is that he has all the leverage right now. Gregorius just left and LeMahieu is coming off a monster MVP caliber season. He's owed $12M next season and asking for another three years and $15M to $16M per year on top of that would not be unreasonable, I don't think. Teams have started spending money again, right? Might as well ask for some of it. How comfortable would you be giving LeMahieu, a player whose 2019 season is a giant outlier compared to the rest of his career, something like $60M for his age 31-34 seasons? I'm squeamish. As good as he was this past season -- and he was great -- I can understand balking at that. LeMahieu's agent may approach the Yankees about an extension now and try to capitalize on any sort of urgency or desperation with Gregorius gone, but I think they should wait. Let next season play out and reevaluate things in November. I have a hard time thinking LeMahieu's leverage will be greater then than it is now. Extending him now seems like a recipe for backing yourself into a bad deal.

5. Wade's role. Gregorius leaving is good news for Tyler Wade, the in-house favorite to take over as the utility infielder. There's still a lot of offseason remaining and Thairo Estrada does loom as an in-house alternative, so Wade's spot on the roster is hardly secure, but I doubt he is disappointed to see Sir Didi leave. I am a Wade fan, maybe the only Wade fan, so if the Yankees do go with him as the utility infielder next season, I hope they play him more than once or twice a week. There's a path to four starts a week between second base and short with Torres getting time at DH and LeMahieu playing first and third bases. Wade can run and play very good defense, and with semi-regular at-bats, the bat could come around. I'm not expecting him to ever be an impact hitter or anything like that. Not even close. The upside is probably something like .280/.350/.375 with a lot of slash-and-dash and stolen bases. For a utility infielder (a "tenth man," so to speak), that'll play. The defense is good enough for the total package to add up to +1.5 WAR. Maybe it works and the Yankees don't miss Gregorius. Chances are it won't. I just hope Wade gets a chance to play if the Yankees do go with him as the utility infielder. Let's find out what the kid can do already. One or two starts a week doesn't help anyone.