Grichuk isn't going anywhere. He's out of options and in no immediate danger of being DFA. Worst case scenario he'll get relegated to 4th OF/pinch hitter/platoon work.
I've always felt this was a ******** Pat Tabler narrative. Pitchers aren't really that different, and you get scouting reports on all of them. Fastballs are fastballs and sliders are sliders. Even if you knew a pitcher from a former league, his repertoire and arm slot could be different now. Good hitters can hit anyone because they have a gameplan, pitch recognition, and hand-eye coordination.
TBH I feel like Gibby has done an admirable job working platoons, hot hitters, and pinch hitting spots this season with the depth at his disposal. He should get a bit of a credit for keeping this team above water without Donaldson when the general consensus was that we'd be lucky to do so even with him healthy.
His defense is probably going to be average to below-average. He's a bat-first infielder who's value is going to come from versatility. If he can be a league average hitter while playing passable defense in a very different positions, that's a nice asset.
The policy of acquiring depth is starting to bear fruit. Tulo is a dead asset and Travis turned into a pumpkin, yet we still have several controllable MIF assets that look like they can be league average contributors. When you look at our positional WAR breakdown last season it was a fricking disaster.
Mike Trout was striking out twice as much in AA at the same age. There's a pretty real chance that Vlad will be the best hitter in baseball some day, when guys like Trout, Altuve, Harper, Betts, etc are fading in their 30s.