The biggest news Friday from a Phillies perspective was the offer they made over $ 100 million to JT Realmuto, but it was an action-packed day around baseball.
In addition to the 184 arbitration players who have entered into business with their teams, and beyond the number of international signings opened in the period on Friday, a few free agencies came from the council.
The Yankees have agreed with DJ LeMahieu on a $ 90 million six-year deal. They also brought two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to a one-year deal worth an estimated $ 11 million.
The Phillies added Archie Bradley on Thursday, days after the White Sox signed reliever Liam Hendriks for a contract worth more than $ 50 million. Alex Wood is after the Giants and Pedro Baez is after the Astros.
Brad Hand, the best remaining reliever on the market, could be close to the Mets, which would create a formidable combination of Hand, Edwin Diaz, Dellin Betances and Jeurys Familia at the back of the bullpen and the Mets might make the team . in the NL East.
The Yankees’ move to retain LeMahieu, one of their key players, means Didi Gregorius is unlikely to hold a reunion in the Bronx. The Yankees have LeMahieu on second base, Gleyber Torres on shortstop and Gio Urshela on third. If they could not retain LeMahieu, it is a realistic option to bring Gregorius back to play briefly and move Torres to second base.
Dave Dombrowski told NBC Sports Philadelphia earlier this week that the Phillies are interested in signing Gregorius again. Why would they not be? He and Alec Bohm were their biggest clutch in 2020. Gregorius’ left hand stick fits perfectly in the 5-hole. He was also steady. His OPS was 85% of the season above .800 and his batting average was 0.270 or higher for 90% of the season.
Last off-season, Gregorius signed a $ 14 million one-year deal with the Phillies. He missed half of the 2019 season after undergoing surgery on Tommy John. In Philadelphia, Gregorius did re-establish his value, but during a shortened season when a global pandemic drastically affected the teams’ finances and hampered spending across the league.
Another one-year deal probably doesn’t make much sense from Gregory’s perspective. This has been repeated regularly, but next season’s free agent classes are full of shortstops: possibly Trevor Story, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa and Javier Baez. Gregory would be behind the five positions. In this year’s class, he and Marcus Semien are shortstops 1A and 1B, with Andrelton Simmons out there as well.
Could the Phillies and Gregory have a $ 20 million to $ 30 million deal for two years? With a two-year contract, he can reach a free agency again at the age of 32, and then he can get another two-year contract if his offense does not disappear.
In the off-season there were not many contracts that came out as compensation for Gregorius, although he certainly had to look for more than the $ 17.5 million over two years that the Royals first singer Carlos Santana paid, or the $ 10 million that the Nationals for one year to Kyle Schwarber. . He is a better all-round player, and in 2020 he was the best hit of the three.
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