The New York Yankees decided to take a risk by not making Didi Gregorius a qualifying offer, and now at least one team will reportedly look to sign the star shortstop away from them during free agency.
One of the teams pursuing Gregorius in the early part of free agency is the Philadelphia Phillies, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports. The Phillies would be open to moving Jean Segura to a different position or trading him if they are able to land Gregorius.
Sources: #Phillies pursuing Didi Gregorius in free agency, as I reported on @MLBNetwork today, with the idea that Jean Segura would move to a different position or be traded. Joe Girardi managed Didi in New York, of course. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 22, 2019
The Yankees still want to re-sign Gregorius, but they chose not to extend a one-year, $17.8 million qualifying offer to him. That likely means they want to pay the 29-year-old less than that. Had Gregorius turned the qualifying offer down, the Yankees would have been entitled to draft pick compensation from any team that signed him. Not extending the offer indicates they were afraid he would accept it.
Gregorius missed the first half of the season last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He struggled a bit upon returning with a .238 average in 82 games, but he still had decent power numbers with 16 home runs and 61 RBI. There will likely be plenty of interest in him on the open market.
