Trent Grisham is running it back with the Yankees, who will get to find out just how real his breakout season was.
The center fielder on Tuesday accepted the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Yankees, giving them some insurance heading into the offseason but also potentially crowding the outfield while tying up a large chunk of money coming off a career year.
The return of Grisham should not impact the top Yankees priority — re-signing Cody Bellinger — as GM Brian Cashman said recently he would continue to have conversations with Bellinger’s agent, Scott Boras, even if Grisham accepted the qualifying offer.
The Yankees gave Trent Grisham the $22 million qualifying offer earlier this offseason. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“[Grisham] had a hell of a year for us, one of the big reasons why we had the level of success we did,” Cashman said last week. “We’d be happy if he accepted and came back.”
Grisham could have opted to test the free agent market, which is especially thin in the outfield (center field in particular), one reason the Yankees may have thought he would decline it and fetch them a compensatory draft pick if he had signed elsewhere. But there was also some internal thought that he might be more inclined to take it because of the uncertainty looming in 2027 with the potential for a work stoppage.
Now, Grisham is coming back at an average annual value higher than he likely would have gotten on the market and creating some questions about how the Yankees will handle their outfield situation this offseason. If they are also able to re-sign Bellinger, that would make Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones potential trade chips. If Bellinger — whose suitors are expected to include the Mets, Dodgers and Phillies, among others — does not return, Domínguez could be in line to handle left field again, perhaps with Jones getting a chance to prove himself in camp.
The 29-year-old Grisham is coming off a career year, in which he crushed 34 home runs and posted an .811 OPS across 143 games. His return provides cover in center field if Bellinger signs elsewhere — the next best option among free agents is Harrison Bader — but could also complicate things if Bellinger returns.
“If one of those guys [Grisham or Bellinger] comes back, it creates a nice competition [for Domínguez and Jones],” Cashman said. “If both come back, maybe it creates some trade flexibility.”
The move does not give the Yankees flexibility with regard to their luxury tax payroll, with owner Hal Steinbrenner having previously indicated that a $300 million payroll is not sustainable. With Grisham and lefty swingman Ryan Yarbrough (who agreed to a $2.5 million deal on Monday) both back in the fold, the Yankees currently have a projected luxury tax payroll of roughly $282 million, per Cot’s Contracts — and that is without adding Bellinger, potentially another starter and bullpen help.
If Bellinger does re-sign, the Yankees could try to find a trade partner for Grisham, but players who accept the qualifying offer cannot be traded before June 15 without their consent.
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The Yankees should get some more clarity on their 2026 payroll by Friday, which is the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players on their 40-man roster.
Jones was added to the 40-man roster Tuesday, along with right-handers Elmer Rodriguez and Chase Hampton, protecting them from next month’s Rule 5 draft.
The 24-year-old Jones finished 2025 on the doorstep of the big leagues following a midsummer tear between Double-A and Triple-A. He still strikes out at a high rate, but his power and speed potential is tantalizing.
Rodriguez, whom the Yankees acquired from the Red Sox last offseason for catcher Carlos Narváez, is one of their top pitching prospects and could make an impact at some point next year after finishing this season at Triple-A.
Hampton, meanwhile, was a more complicated selection given that he is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery that he underwent last spring. Before the procedure, he had been one of the top upper-level Yankees pitching prospects.
The Yankees left unprotected a handful of other fringe prospects like LHP Brock Selvidge, RHP Brendan Beck, 1B T.J. Rumfield, RHP Eric Reyzelman and RHP Harrison Cohen.