Yankees improve with acquisition of Didi Gregorius

The last time the New York Yankees completed a three-team trade with Arizona and Detroit, they netted a two-time All-Star and power-hitting outfielder.

The last time the Yankees deployed a 20-something talent at shortstop, they were in the midst of an 18-year World Series drought.

Didi Gregorius is no Curtis Granderson and he's certainly not Derek Jeter, but that doesn't mean he can't be a productive piece to the puzzle over the next half decade and beyond.

The Yankees didn't necessarily improve defensively at shortstop with the acquisition of Gregorius, not with Brendan Ryan sitting No. 1 on the club's depth chart, but it's doubtful the Yankees would have proceeded with the weak-hitting veteran next year. Instead, New York acquires a player under team control through the 2019 season with the potential to provide value on both sides of the diamond.

While Ryan's glove rated among the best in the game at the position between 2010 and 2013, his career wOBA of .252 and -0.7 WAR this past season negated most of his defensive value as a starting shortstop. 

(Courtesy: FanGraphs)

For a club saddled by high-priced contracts and overpaid veterans, spending on one-dimensional shortstops like Jed Lowrie, Stephen Drew and Asdrubal Cabrera in free agency didn't make for a perfect fit, either. With a career WAR of 1.7 and total earnings of just over $1 million, Gregorius's balanced skill set provides much more value for a team in need of significant retooling.

The 24-year-old shortstop is regarded as a strong defender and his everyday presence at the position addresses an area that suffered during the final years of Jeter's career. What Gregorius perhaps gives up in way of the glove in comparison to Ryan, he more than makes up for it with his abilities at the plate.

At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Gregorius has the physical structure to develop into a middle infielder with pop, a trait already apparent after posting a .704 OPS in his rookie season. His on-base skills leave some to be desired, but we're also talking about a player entering his age-25 season with solid numbers against right-handed pitching.

Gregorius's left-handed stick figures to play as well at Yankee Stadium as any park in the big leagues. In perhaps a foreshadowing of what's to come, Gregorius hit his first career home run in New York during his first at-bat with the Diamondbacks in 2013.

The Yankees still need a third baseman, starting pitcher, and insurance at first. They could also stand to add more depth to their outfield. But the club was in desperate need of replacing Jeter, and the options out there weren't overly appealing.

Gregorius might not develop into a Hall of Fame shortstop, but the Yankees don't need him to. For now, he's just a piece of the puzzle – an inexpensive one at that.