The hiring of Dave Dombrowski as the Phillies’ new president of baseball operations brought renewed hope that the team could re-sign J.T. Realmuto, though the Phils still hadn’t made an official offer to Realmuto as of late December. “The Phillies continue to be engaged” in discussions with Realmuto and his representatives, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury writes, but the team is also doing the same with another of its high-profile free agents — shortstop Didi Gregorius.
There hasn’t been much in the way of news about Gregorius this offseason, despite a solid 2020 season that saw him hit .284/.339/.488 with 10 homers over 237 PA for Philadelphia. After accepting a one-year contract with the Phillies last winter in order to rebuild his value after an injury-shortened 2019 campaign, Gregorius’ seemingly successful plan ran into a pair of roadblocks — the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on teams’ spending habits, and a very deep shortstop market. Not only are such names as Marcus Semien and Andrelton Simmons still available on the open market, a number of prominent shortstops have been rumored to be trade chips, with two such players (Francisco Lindor to the Mets, Jose Iglesias to the Angels) addressing the shortstop needs of two would-be suitors for Gregorius and company.
The door therefore still seems open for a reunion between Gregorius and the Phillies, though it still remains to be seen how much the club is willing to spend this offseason. Salisbury raises the possibility that both Realmuto and Gregorius could be re-signed, which would run counter to the early-offseason narrative that the Phillies would be hampered by revenue losses, but it’s probably safe to assume that Dombrowski wouldn’t have taken the job without some assurance that he would be allowed to make some higher-tier additions.
It could be that Philadelphia is first waiting to see what happens with Realmuto before turning to Gregorius as a possible backup plan. The Phillies are technically set around the infield already, with Jean Segura slated to move back to his old shortstop position, Alec Bohm slated for third base and Scott Kingery tapped for regular second base duty. Signing Gregorius would allow for more roster flexibility, perhaps with Kingery moving back into a super-utility role, and it would better bolster the Phillies’ hitting depth if the DH is again part of National League lineups.
Beyond the everyday lineup, the Phillies are also still looking for more bullpen help in the wake of a disastrous performance from the 2020 relief corps. To this end, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter) reports that the Phillies and Padres are interested in closer Alex Colome, joining such previously-known suitors as the Twins and Red Sox. The Astros and Nationals were also linked to Colome earlier this winter, but the White Sox are now likely out of the running after signing Liam Hendriks.
Colome would be yet another big offseason addition for the aggressive Padres, who look to be challengers for the NL pennant but are still lacking some help at the back of the bullpen with Trevor Rosenthal and Kirby Yates both in free agency. A proven closer like Colome would only further strengthen an already solid San Diego bullpen, but the Phillies clearly have the more glaring need for relief help.
Thus far in the offseason, the Phillies have already added Jose Alvarado, Sam Coonrod, Ian Hamilton, and (on minors deals) Neftali Feliz and Michael Ynoa as they try to figure out the state of their 2021 relief picture. Colome would surely take over as the regular closer, moving Hector Neris and Alvarado into setup roles and reinforcing the late-game mix.
i reallt hope they get Colome. i think he could provide the best value of the RP on the market. ideally you get JT, Colome, a few cheap RP in like the 2nd and 3rd tiers, and maybe a Hamels. then if you feel good to add a little something else you can take another look at Didi.
Sounds similar to the Washington want list.
and my guess is whoever of the two teams makes more such additions will probably finish better.
I’m on board for all of that. Little cautious of Hamels, but what the hell?
Hamels is just one that I thought of to fill a SP spot at a relatively low cost. id prefer a lower injury risk, but i feel the 4/5 types on the market ate lacking this offseason.
Yes ate lacking indeed, great observation!
Hamels for nostalgia would be great, but I tell ya–I’d love to give King Felix a shot. I know he might not provide a ton of value, is just a depth piece at this point, and his career is rounding that last corner, but I would still take the chance on him and a rebound. It would be so cool to see him have a bounce-back year and for him to do it in a Phils uniform 🙂
id take him on a Minors contract, sure.
Segura is better at second
Much better
Does anyone recall if Didi turned down a multi year offer last year? Didn’t his agent have a sense of who was gonna be on the market this year? I get COVID throwing more wrenches into plans, but seems like the agent miscalculated? But tough to really know I guess.
Shampoo is better! I go on first and clean the hair!
No one cares. Seriously. Nobody thinks it’s cute. Xabial was preferable.
So far the Phillies have replaced their crappy bullpen pieces with other crappy bullpen pieces.
Yup
While that surely is a well-developed, expert analysis, let’s hold off on judging them too much yet. I love the Alvarado pickup; it’s a bit of a gamble, sure, but guys who throw that brand of wiffle-ball-moving fastball don’t come around that often. Gotta strike when he’s available. He’s gonna be fun to watch. There’s a lot of offseason left, with a lot of difference-making arms out there, with seemingly more teams than usual content to stay mediocre (looking at YOU, NL Central). This all bodes well for a Phillies team that I’m inclined to think will be relatively aggressive (DD didn’t come here to play the wait-and-see game). I think the Phils end up with two more decent relievers from this market, so just wait before you whine.
the fact is everything, and I mean everything went wrong with that pen last year. just the law of averages suggests things will be better. even a slight rebound from the Arano and Suarez group helps. the optionable RP they brought in being at least serviceable helps. at least one of the NRI relievers doing well helps. none of these things worked out last year, and any one oe these things working out this year helps.
It seems unwise for SD to get involved in a bidding war for Colome. Personally, I think re-signing Kirby Yates is a potentially medium-risk, higher reward scenario.
SD would be gambling on a player coming back from injury, but there is a track record of production in a Padres uniform, and hopefully a willingness to sign a reasonable contract.
When is the Orioles going to sign someone?????????
Thursday
Not even ever
They’ll sign someone.
Not in any of our lifetimes, though.
In 2022, they will sign Khris Davis. The real bash brothers will be united, believe!
Even if they sign JT and Didi they will be 5th in the division. They can save the money and get a better pick if they punt this off-season.
I don’t know. With JT and Didi they had a real potent offense last year (with JT and Didi). Nice top 3 starters too. Weakness is bullpen, but it will surely be better this year. Even the minor moves they made will help. Lots of holes, but fixable.
Yeah the moves they made past two years don’t make it easy to punt on the season. If they addressed the pen sooner and better they would have made playoffs.
I wish I had your optimism. I will be a Phillies fan until I die, but sometimes they make it tough.
If they don’t add a dead minimum of 2 top level bullpen pieces it won’t matter what they do at catcher and short. I mean, even if they bring back both JT and Didi, all they are is as good as they were last year. And if last year had been 162 games instead of 60… they’d have finished dead last.
@krekert See I disagree because I thought there was a lot of bad luck last year. The bullpen was a disaster of course, but the late-season injuries, some of them rather freakish, also hurt. It was a short season, but at times the Phillies looked like a playoff team. Not on the tier of the Braves, Dodgers and Rays, but a solid quad. I think they finished with a top 3 offense.
Now the disheartening part is, JT and Didi are not Phillies anymore. The Mets made some huge moves and look like a serious contender. The Braves signed a big starter. The Nats and Marlins are making improvements as well. So the Phillies have a long way to go just to get to the point they were at last year. And it sounds like they won’t be spending, so JT and Didi both seem like long shots. So as of right now, I see the Phils as a 5th team. If they resign JT and Didi, I think the Phillies will be decent, BUT I don’t think they’ll be making 1 of those moves, let alone 2.
The Phillies stink, they really screwed the pooch with their failed rebuild. But at least they aren’t the Mutts.
I’d like to see the Red Sox sign Rosenthal and make him the closer. Right now their best closing option is Barnes and while he’s a solid enough setup man he certainly is not a good closer. Rosenthal in my opinion offers potential lights out production as a lesser price than some of the other options given that he had some injuries and struggles the past couple seasons before 2020. Based on what he looked like in 2020 though I’d say it’s pretty safe to say he’s a good bet to be quite effective next season and I think he’d be a perfect fit for the red Sox.
I want Didi back. Not sold on Kingery as our everyday 2B. The bat was putrid last year and for most of the second half of 2019, as well. Although it would be interesting to see what kind of year he would have at the plate playing all season at the one position he knows best. I still want FA Jurikson Profar to be our everyday CF.
Think they need to sink or swim with Kingery at 2B, especially if Segura goes back to SS or is traded. Scottie is a better hitter than he showed last year and he’s one of the best defenders and baserunners in the NL East.
The Phillies aren’t as far from fielding a contending team. If they bring back, Didi & JT, sign Colome (who is the more likely closer we can sign, he would take a 2yr deal), add another solid BP pitcher. We sure up most of our holes. A 4th/5th starter, and check in on Bradley JR. For CF. This is not an unrealistic plan.
Today there was a report we had inquired on Andrew Benindetti from the Ref Sox. He would be a solid addition and we wouldn’t need Bradley JR.
Didi & JT make our lineup as good as most of the NL East.
Sign Didi for another year with an option. Martin or Stott will be ready by 2022. Stick Kingery in CF since the Phils aren’t going after Springer. Keep Quinn as 4th. Send Haseley back to search for some power. Turn Quinn into the ultimate PH specialist…bunts, grounders and steals……Use a trick from the Rays to make a fourth/fifth starter…….sign 2 or 3 of the following……Hamels, Archer, Porcello, Lester, Wainwright……and make them a matched set going 3-4 innings each and then the closer. Team needs some people in the dugout who have actually won something and all of those pitchers have…….no more September collapses. If they sign JT, then great, but he may want too much money.