Cincinnati Reds: Bidding for Didi Gregorius might become too costly

After reports surfaced last night of mutual interest between Didi Gregorius and the Cincinnati Reds, it appears that the asking price might be too high.

The rumored reunion between Didi Gregorius and the Cincinnati Reds might not be as cut and dry as some may think. Reports surfaced last night of mutual interest between the shortstop and his former team, however, that same source sees Gregorius’ price tag as perhaps too high for the Reds.

Jon Heyman, an insider at MLB Network, broke the news last night about a potential reunion between Cincinnati and Gregorius, but today, Heyman is putting Didi’s price tag around $14-15M per season. Heyman also mentions another possible reunion, as the Philadelphia Phillies are a potential landing spot for Gregorius. That would allow Didi to reunite with former manager Joe Girardi.

Could the Cincinnati Reds afford to sign Didi Gregorius to a contract that would pay him $14-15M a year? Sure, but is that smart? That’s where I’d have to say no. Freddy Galvis is already under contract for next season with a price tag of just $5.5M. Is Gregorius that much better than Galvis? Again, I’d have to say no.

Now, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want the Reds to explore an upgrade at shortstop. While a trade for Francisco Lindor seems less and less likely every day, there are other potential trade candidates out there.

Perhaps the Los Angeles Dodgers are willing to move Corey Seager. Might Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros be available? Mark DeRosa of MLB Network made that his bold prediction for the Winter Meetings during last night’s broadcast, saying the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds could trade for Correa, allowing Houston to target Anthony Rendon.

Let’s not forget that Freddy Galvis had a career-high in home runs (23) and RBIs (70) last season. If I were to venture a guess right now, I’d assume Galvis would be hitting seventh in the Reds lineup, with only the catcher’s spot slotted behind him. Galvis is not a high on-base hitter (.296 on-base percentage for his career), but neither is Gregorius, who has a .313 career-OBP.

A price tag of $14-15M for a player coming off Tommy John surgery just last season who’s career-OPS is below .800 seems like an overpay. Both Nicholas Castellanos (.797) and Marcell Ozuna (.784) don’t exceed .800 in terms of career-OPS either, but they’re much closer to that mark than Gregorius.

When all the dust is settled, I’d expect one of those three players to sign a multi-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Who that is remains to be seen. All three have been linked to the Reds, but for the contract that Gregorius is said to desire, I think the money could be better spent elsewhere. We’ll see what Nick Krall and Dick Williams think on the matter, hopefully in the next few days.