Cincinnati Reds: Adding this star shortstop would make Cincy contenders

The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly interested in shortstop Didi Gregorius, and if they do add him then it would make the Reds contenders.

The Cincinnati Reds are set to go into 2020 with a couple of solid shortstops in Jose Peraza and Freddy Galvis but could get a whole lot better if they add star shortstop Didi Gregorius.

Gregorius was of course signed with the Reds in 2007 and he made his debut in 2012, and they could form a reunion very soon.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that the Reds are interested in the 29-year-old shortstop, but they will have some other competition.

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Didi has said he would want to return to the New York Yankees, but they have already shown him that they don’t think he is worth a lot of money because they didn’t even extend him a qualifying offer of $17.8 million.

The Brewers could be another fit but they are another team that has shown that they don’t like to spend a lot of money on infielders, and one example of that is the one-year deal that they gave to Mike Moustakas the last off-season.

So, the Brewers and Yankees might not be fully interested in Gregorius so it should give the Reds a big opportunity to grab one of the most underrated infielders in the game.

Before 2019 Gregorius had three straight seasons with at least 20 home runs and was in the middle of a Yankee lineup that a lot better hitters than the Reds currently have like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.

Adding Gregorius to a Reds lineup would immediately make the Reds a contender for a Wild Card spot. I know that Gregorius had a down year in 2019, but he was coming off of Tommy John surgery and he may have been rushed back in an effort to help the Yankees in a playoff push. It takes a year to fully recover from the surgery, so I wouldn’t be concerned with his 2019 stats, and he should be a great candidate to be a bounce-back candidate.

If you look at the Reds team right now, they have a decent offensive lineup. The meat of their lineup is Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez with Aristides Aquino, who put the league on fire with his home run barrage in 2019.

Adding Didi Gregorius somewhere in the middle of that would balance out the lineup and could give Joey Votto more pitches to hit, which would hopefully lead to an improved 2020 campaign.

Then, Nick Krall also gets to watch Didi on defense on a nightly basis would give Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo, and Sonny Gray a lot of confidence.

If the Cincinnati Reds were to add Didi Gregorius and add a little bullpen help, I don’t see why they can’t be contenders next season.