Gregorious? Why Not

by Brandon Posa

When I first heard the rumor today that the Pirates and Diamondbacks may have been discussing a deal involving young shortstop Didi Gregorious, my first reaction definitely wasn’t “what about Jordy?!” The Diamondbacks seem to be scavenging for starting pitching due to the loss of Patrick Corbin, and the Pirates certainly have a lot of depth in those ranks—albeit not as much as they did last year. Let’s face facts: the Pirates have no long-term answer at shortstop beyond Jordy Mercer, because there are still doubts that remain that top prospect Alen Hanson has the range and arm strength to remain at shortstop for the long haul (many scouts have said that his likely calling in the majors is at second base). Jon mentioned in an earlier post that the Pirates and second baseman Neil Walker have both made efforts to come to terms on a long term deal, with no resolution as of yet. And, honestly, we have to wonder if Neil would be worth much more than whatever the Pirates have all ready offered him. He will become a free agent after the 2016 season at age 31, the same year as Pedro Alvarez. Personally, I believe Walker still has a lot left in the tank to be a productive, above-average second baseman, but it is hard to imagine him getting a true free agent deal from the Bucs after 2016; what I’m saying is that any deal with Walker should occur now to buy out his arbitration years for cost control, and then add a year or two by options or by permanent clauses.

Nevertheless, no matter what happens with Walker, Hanson is hopefully knocking on the door in 2015-2016, and would most likely begin as the big club’s shortstop and, depending on what happens with Walker, slide into second. The point is, there is virtually no depth at shortstop on the farm, so a deal for Gregorious isn’t that far-fetched. I guarantee most fans chuckled at this rumor when the Pirates clearly could use some more starting pitching depth, oddly enough; 2013 proved that injuries do occur and you literally can never have enough supporting arms (the Bucs utilized 12 starters last year).

Gregorious last season had a .252/.332/.373 line while playing in 103 games for the D'backs. He provided 0.3 WAR from his defense, coupled with a .971 fielding percentage. By comparison, Mercer had .285/.336/.435 line in 103 games last season, while posting 0.2 dWAR. It's pretty clear just by those basic numbers alone that Mercer had a better year at the plate than Didi, while being worth about the same in terms of defense. The fact of the matter is that Gregorious could be picked up for a relatively-cheap price, all the while adding depth at a relatively-depleted position. In my opinion, I would be completely unopposed if the Diamondbacks requested someone like Jeff Locke or even Stolmy Pimentel in a trade, even though I am fairly high on Pimentel—I think his 2013 numbers proved that he can definitely be a great arm in either a long-relief or setup role someday, with the possibility to still get stretched out enough to be a starter. No, Gregorious is not going to be a .300 hitting shortstop, but the Pirates don’t need him to be. They need someone who can hit better than Clint Barmes consistently and provide solid defense based on the Pirates’ metrics. Gregorious at one time was a top-100 prospect in the game, so he has the potential to be a solid shortstop that is can be controlled through the 2019 season. These are the deals that the Pirates need to take a gamble on once in a while to supplement their drafting and development. I say, why not? Jordy Mercer I think will handle the starting job fairly well, and well certainly provide more offense than Barmes did last year. But I definitely wouldn’t mind taking a shot on Gregorious; and, if it ends up not working out in the Pirates favor, it seems like they are slowly but surely churning out a bunch of pitchers down on the farm to take the place of a departed Locke, Pimentel, or someone else. Depth is so critical for every team, so it doesn't hurt for the Pirates to take from a potential strength to aid a potential weakness.