Examining how Didi Gregorius would fit with the Cardinals

Could Didi Gregorius be a fit with the Cardinals?

As we watch other teams gear up for the 2021 season, the St. Louis Cardinals aren’t doing much publicly and Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong is getting a lot of attention elsewhere.

It would be abhorrent to see him join another team, and according to Robert Murray, Wong is getting attention from the Cardinals as well the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers, among others.

There are multiple free-agent infielders available, and shortstop Didi Gregorius remaining unsigned is a bit surprising.

Gregorius has been in the league around nine seasons between the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. He had a 1.4 WAR in 2020 and has a career .265/.315/.433, and .320 wOBA. He has a .978 fielding percentage with a total of 426 double plays turned, 1,106 put outs and 75 errors in his nine seasons.

He has played a majority of his time at shortstop but has some experience at second and third base. In the event the Cardinals lose out on keeping Wong, there are many options the Cardinals have including their current plan of having Tommy Edman at second, Paul DeJong at short and Matt Carpenter at third base.

Gregorius, however, would be an intriguing pickup for the Cardinals.

Gregorius, born in Amsterdam, would have that veteran presence the club always desires. He would immediately step into the starting lineup, moving either Edman or Carpenter to the bench. He could, of course, be an upgrade for DeJong at shortstop, considering the Cardinals seemingly scrambled to back him up last season while he was out with COVID-19.

The market for shortstops lessened considerably with the signing of Marcus Semien and Andrelton Simmons. Gregorius is getting looks from the Reds and reconsideration from the Phillies. While they are looking for possible one year deals with the free agent, NBCSports noted Didi was looking for a multi-year deal this offseason.

In this time of crunched budgets and scrapping around for teams and players, Gregorius may end up looking around longer than he hoped. You can definitely say that the Cardinals appear to be in that same waiting boat this off season.

While it isn’t an ideal situation for either party, a short-term deal with Gregorius and the Cardinals could prove very beneficial. The Cardinals would have the ultimate veteran back up for multiple infield position and the Dutchman could find a nice fit in Baseball Heaven. There could even be a situation we all know John Mozeliak and management love, where Gregorius loves St. Louis and decides to stick around for awhile.

I’ll try not to be too hopeful on this happening, but in these times where nothing is being done so close to Spring Training – it is nice to do some summer dreaming.