In trying to piece together an early 2021 Phillies lineup with or without Didi Gregorius, the main problem you run into is the National League’s designated hitter uncertainty.
Will the Phillies have an extra bat to slot in at 6 or 7? Or could the 7-8-9 be the centerfielder, a light-hitting shortstop and the pitcher?
Spring training begins in just a few weeks and it is still undetermined whether the NL will employ the DH as it did in the shortened 2020 season, or revert to pitchers hitting. A one-year compromise was made for 2020 because of the unusual circumstances. Reducing the risk of pitcher injury was a top priority. It still should be, and whether or not you’re a fan of the DH (I’m a National League guy), it makes a lot of common sense nowadays.
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Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement is up after the 2021 season and it is widely expected that by 2022 the DH will be universal and for good. In question is the season that will occur between now and then.
The latest update this week was the MLB Players’ Association’s rejection of the league’s proposal of a universal DH in exchange for expanded playoffs. It’s not the first time this conversation has taken place.
There is validity to the players’ stance that the value to owners of expanded playoffs far outweighs the value of a universal DH. Designated hitters don’t really get paid. Look at Nelson Cruz, who’s had one of the best runs a DH ever has. Since 2014, he’s hit .286 with a .920 OPS and averaged 37 homers and 95 RBI per year. He’s hit at least 37 homers in each of those full seasons. He's been about as good as a DH can be.
Know how much Cruz made over that seven-year span? He made $91 million, $13 million per year with no season above $14.25 million. That’s obviously insane money to 99.9% of the world, but in baseball terms, it’s the yearly salary of a “pretty good” player. And that’s for one of the best designated hitters of the last two decades, maybe the second-best to only David Ortiz.
MLB
It’s possible that both the universal DH and expanded playoffs are in place for 2021 but the closer we get to opening day, the less likely either become. An expanded playoff field would be huge for the Phillies, who play in the toughest division in baseball and might be a fourth-place team even after retaining J.T. Realmuto and adding relief help. It is unlikely the field would include 16 teams as it did in 2020 but it could be larger than the 10-team field in 2019.
And if the DH does remain in the National League, there are some decent free-agent options available to the Phillies, such as Cruz, Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Duvall, Yoenis Cespedes, Brad Miller and Jay Bruce.
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