Didi Gregorius was given an unenviable task when the Yankees acquired him in December 2014. He was the man the team added to play shortstop in the wake of Derek Jeter’s retirement. While Jeter wasn’t at his best in those final years, he had been the face of the franchise for the past two decades. Replacing any sort of beloved figure is hard, but replacing Yankees Captain Derek Jeter was going to be quite the challenge.
Then he did it. Gregorius stepped in and gave the Yankees five good years, improving nearly every year. He put up three 20 home run seasons, and became a genuinely good bat in the middle of the Yankees’ lineup.