Phillies Sign Former Yankees Shortstop Didi Gregorious

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Phillies have made another free agent splash, signing free agent shortstop and former Yankee Didi Gregorious.

The deal is for $14 million for one season. It was first reported by MLB Network Insider Joel Sherman and has been confirmed by the team.

The move reunites Gregorious, who will be 30 on Opening Day 2020, with his former Yankees manager and new Phillies manager, Joe Girardi.

It comes shortly after the Phillies chose not to tender contracts to two longtime infielders, Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez, leaving a huge hole in their infield. It's the second major Phillies addition of the offseason after inking one of the best available free agent pitchers, Zack Wheeler, to a five-year, $118 million deal last week.

Though Gregorious struggled in 2019 after returning from injury, he had put together three high-quality seasons prior to that, hitting 20, 25, and 27 homers respectively from 2016-18, consistently big power numbers for a shortstop.

This one-year deal with the Phillies marks an attempt by Gregorious to recoup some value after a down year, and he's expected to seek a longer-term agreement next offseason.

A native of the Netherlands, Gregorious is no slouch with the glove either, offering average to above average defense at a premier position, by most metrics, in recent seasons. As things currently stand, Gregorious will likely take over shortstop from Jean Segura, who could slide to second base. Scott Kingery would be left with third base duties, where he has more experience than Segura.

Moving forward

However, the Phillies could still make a trade or free agent signing for another big bat, as big free agent third basemen Josh Donaldson and Anthony Rendon remain unsigned.

Of note, the Didi signing brings the Phillies very close to the first luxury tax threshold of $208 million, with an anticipated 2020 payroll of almost exactly $200 million. There have been conflicting reports on whether or not Phillies owner John Middleton is indeed willing to cross that threshold and suffer the penalty.

On the one hand he reportedly stated that he would do it if he thought it meant making the final move for a World Series contending roster, a nearly impossible determination to make in the middle of the winter.

On the other hand, there have been reports that the team was considering going "all in" on Rendon, a move that would've had them blow past the threshold even if they hadn't signed Wheeler and Gregorious.