Yankees' Trent Grisham Decision Was a Disaster From Day 1

Last offseason, the general consensus was that Trent Grisham would bolt the New York Yankees for a long-term contract elsewhere.

After all, the two-time Gold Glover had just smashed 34 home runs to go along with an .811 OPS in a breakout campaign, and given that he was still just 28 years old at the time, you had to figure someone would be willing to give him a multi-year deal.

Instead, the other 29 teams saw right through Grisham and his lifetime .217/.319/.399 slash line. The Yankees, for some reason, tendered Grisham a qualifying offer, and when the outfielder realized there were no juicy offers on the table, he accepted it.

New York ended up paying Grisham $22 million to post a .703 OPS while playing lousy center field defense. It also watched as he once again flamed out in the playoffs, going just 2-for-15 with a .321 OPS.

Grisham's numbers across two postseasons in the Bronx? He batted .136 with zero homers and zero RBI over 48 plate appearances.

So why exactly did the Yankees re-up with Grisham last winter to begin with?

Well, it's possible New York viewed him as a backup plan in the event that Cody Bellinger departed. Of course, Bellinger ultimately re-signed with the Yankees.

Another reason — and perhaps the most likely one — is that New York coveted the draft pick it would have received had Grisham signed elsewhere.

The final possibility is that the Yankees actually though Grisham was going to replicate his 2025 success, this even though he batted under .200 three years in a row prior.

Again, the draft pick (which probably would have been a fourth-rounder) was the most logical explanation for New York's faux pas. Essentially, the Yanks allowed the possibility of a fourth-round pick to get in the way of their roster construction for 2026.

Smart move.

Now, Grisham is headed toward free agency again, and the Yankees won't have the option of making a qualifying offer this time.

The soon-to-be-30-year-old will almost certainly be playing in a different uniform next spring ... one year too late.

New York could have opened up 2026 with Spencer Jones on the roster to give him a full year of seasoning rather than just 289 plate appearances. Instead, the Yanks opted to roll with Grisham, who posted a 0.7 WAR.

There is really nothing that Grisham brings to the table at this point outside of a decent eye (he had a 12.6 percent walk rate this year) and a little bit of pop. He isn't a consistent offensive threat, he's lost just about all of his speed and he is now an awful defender.

The Grisham experiment was doomed from the start in 2026, and just about everyone knew it except the Yankees themselves.