Didi Gregorius is back, just not in the majors, yet. The former Yankees shortstop signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners, as reported by national MLB insider Russell Dorsey.
The 33-year-old’s stint for the Phillies wasn’t a pleasant one.
In Philadelphia, his career there lasted over three seasons with the Phillies, he owned a .670 OPS, hit only 24 homers, and made 27 errors. That was the last time he was on an MLB team in 2022.
Since then, he’s been more successful in the Mexican League, as the Dutch shortstop signed with Algodoneros de Unión Laguna on May 1, 2023. Ever since and more recently, he has had a league-leading 11 homers with a 1.208 OPS.
But for the Phillies, Gregorius was hitting .210 with a .567 OPS before he was cut and cost Philadelphia $5.5 million to take him and his salary off the books.
In his prime, the former Yankees star took over shortstop for Derek Jeter and was productive from 2015 to 2019. His batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage at the time were .269/.313/.446 with 97 homers.
His notable moment in the Bronx was his game-tying grand slam during the American League Wild Card game that jumpstarted the Yankee’s run during the 2017 ALCS playoffs. His three-run homer for New York led to the Yankees beating the Minnesota Twins 8-4, as Seattle is looking for a similar spark in signing Gregorius as they are looking for a playoff berth in an underwhelming season so far.
Currently, the Mariners are fourth in the AL West and are ten games behind the Texas Rangers, who are leading the division. The Phillies, in 2020, also brought in Gregorius when they were desperate but were forced to cut ties after a disastrous few seasons with the team, which is something Seattle will hope doesn’t happen to them.
The Mariners currently don’t have any young shortstops close to the major leagues and J.P. Crawford has a .685 OPS with three home runs as the team’s defense-first starting shortstop. Their highest-ranked shortstop prospect, Cole Young, is a 19-year-old in Single-A.
Gregorius has had success internationally in other baseball leagues as well other than the Mexican League, as he played for the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic, batting .348 with a home run in six games this past March.
Despite this recent dominance, Gregorius is just looking for another shot at sticking with a team in the majors, as this minor-league deal is just the first step in his comeback endeavor.
