The New York Yankees have sent a very clear message with this key free-agent decision.
The New York Yankees have multiple key free agents of their own to attend to this offseason, and the most notable name is obviously Cody Bellinger.
But the Yankees have another key outfielder who is hitting the open market: Trent Grisham.
Grisham had a breakout campaign in 2025, slugging 34 home runs and managing an .811 OPS. Now, his market should be fairly robust as a result.
New York recently tended the qualifying offer to Grisham, which would be $22 million for 2026 if he accepts. Considering that the Yanks also need money to retain Bellinger, that's a rather risky move for Brian Cashman and Co., but it could only mean one thing.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham. Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.The Yankees already know that Grisham is a goner, and they are only pitching the qualifying offer so they can reap a compensatory draft pick when he signs elsewhere.
Grisham probably won't be getting $22 million annually from any other team, but he could land somewhere in the neighborhood of $15-20 million per year over the course of a multi-year contract, and the 29-year-old may ultimately prefer the long-term security.
New York wants to re-sign Bellinger. Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner do not have to come outright and say that. We know it. The Yanks also probably plan on making a run at Kyle Tucker. So why would they want Grisham back at all?
The qualifying offer is an indication that Grisham has no plans of accepting it. Now, one could argue that it's insurance in case the Yankees lose Bellinger and can't sign Tucker, but it seems much more likely it's the former.
Why? Because it seems hard to imagine New York being perfectly content with striking out on both Bellinger and Tucker but retaining Grisham. What then? Would the Yankees roll with Grisham and Jasson Dominguez in the outfield over the course of a full season? Seems highly unlikely.
Yes, Hal's budget is definitely considerably tighter than that of his father's, but he also wants to win, and it should seem blatantly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that only keeping Grisham would make the Bronx Bombers worse off in 2026.
While there are reasons to like Grisham (his 14.1 percent walk rate and his .229 ISO chief among them), there are also plenty of reasons to question his long-term fit.
For example, Grisham hit under .200 three years in a row before his breakout 2025 campaign. He also owns a lifetime .720 OPS since entering the big leagues in 2019, and while Grisham is a two-time Gold Glover, his defense has declined markedly since arriving in New York.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham. Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.Is there a chance that Grisham — a former first-round pick — has finally found himself offensively, much like previous late bloomers like Jose Bautista, David Ortiz and Nelson Cruz? Sure, but those guys all at least showed flashes prior to breaking out. Grisham never even hit 20 homers, and he posted three straight sub-.700 OPS campaigns prior to 2025.
It's not like Grisham is 25 or 26, either. He just turned 29, so he isn't all that young and probably doesn't have much more room for improvement.
The Yankees are making it pretty clear with their decision to essentially tender a one-year, $22 million contract to Grisham that they do not anticipate that he will accept it.