Despite being a staple on the Yankees roster in the past few years, the Yankees must let Didi Gregorius walk at season’s end.
To start off, I just want to that I have always loved Didi. He will always be one of my favorite Yankees. But with the upcoming offseason and his contract coming to an end, it’s time to start thinking about what is best for the future of the team. I know this is going to upset a lot of people but here are two reasons why the Yankees need to let Didi walk in the offseason.
Before I get into the reason why they should let him walk, let us take a look at Didi’s stats on the year. Didi is having his worst season at the plate with the Yankees this year. While he only started playing in early June, in 60 games this year Didi is slashing .262/.295/.477. He has hit 13 bombs and driven in 44 runs this year. The worst part about his slash line is the awful .295 OBP. Didi has shown no plate discipline this year.
Age and what he wants
It can be assumed that Didi’s agent is going to be asking for around if not more than what the highest-paid SS in the game is getting. The highest-paid SS in the game is Xander Bogaerts, who signed a six-year, $120 mil contract that will start next year. Now you can argue that Didi is better than Xander.
The one thing the Yankees can’t do is offer Didi the same contract. The reason why is because of age, Xander is 26 and Didi will be turning 30 before next season. You can’t offer did a contract that large and that long because of his age. Also, the Yankees have some great young talent. Gleyber Torres is becoming a superstar right before our eyes, Gio Urshela may be the real deal and we have D.J. It is sad to say, but Didi is the odd man out in this.
Gerrit Cole
The Yankees need better starting pitching and with the Astros getting Greinke it is almost impossible for them to resign Cole. The Yankees need to throw as much money as he wants at him. A rotation of Sevy, Cole, Tanaka, Paxton, and German is a great rotation.
With the Yankees also having to sign Judge, Gary, Betances, and DJ to extensions in the future, Didi is once again the odd man out. I hope it doesn’t have to come to this, but all signs point to this needing to happen.
I agree 100%. The only thing in Didi’s favor is the Yanks are light on lefty hitters and Hicks is not the answer and Gardner is on his way out. I say let him walk and put Torres at short and DJ, the gold glove 2nd basemen at second. You now have Gio and Andujar to fight for 3rd.
Thanks Didi, but goodbye…
I bet you a white person wrote this article and is on crack.
Are you kidding me??? Didi is at his best SS !!! its ashame you grade him on injuries he is worth his price !! i want Didi in shortstop next 3 years he is in his prime.
Wow, how easily you all forget. Didi may have had his worst season at the plate, but that was coming back significantly faster than anyone has from TJ surgery in recent history. He hit 16 homers in half a season, meaning if he was healthy he would have cracked 30, and you know he would have. The Yankees best post season moments since 2017 all belong to Didi. He is remarkable defensively, and should be the captain of this team. The Yankees can afford a team guy first like Didi who will take less in order to win. Who else could have replaced Jeter. Didi has done as good if not a better job than Tino did replacing Mattingly. He is clutch, a winner, and he should retire a Yankee. He’s the best option at shortstop by the way. He is better at Short stop than Gleyber, and it’s nice to have Lemahieu ready to play anywhere. Resign Didi, and yes they can still sign Cole, or Cole and Strasburg. The Yankees can afford whoever they want whenever they want. No reason to let Didi go, unless you want to downgrade an amazing infield.