Trent Grisham accepts qualifying offer: Where do Yankees go from here?

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Nov 18, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Instead of chasing a multi-year deal, Trent Grisham is returning to the Bronx for another season.

The center fielder has accepted the one-year qualifying offer that the Yankees extended him earlier this month, multiple sources confirmed with the New York Daily News ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. The offer, worth $22.025 million, will pay Grisham a substantial raise after he made $5 million in 2025 and barely played in 2024, his first season in pinstripes after coming over in the Juan Soto trade.

It will also keep the 29-year-old in a city that he’s enjoyed over the last two seasons.

“I like this place a lot,” Grisham said in August. “I like the guys we have in the clubhouse. I like New York. There’s a lot of things I like about it, so we’ll see.”

Grisham could have searched for more security after enjoying a career year in 2025, as the left-handed hitter blasted 34 home runs to go with an .811 OPS and 129 wRC+. However, his offensive output was unprecedented, and his once- Gold Glove defense took a hit, potentially warding off suitors.

While metrics like barrel percentage, exit velocity and xwOBA suggest Grisham’s breakout wasn’t a one-off — he also attributed his success to a better mental approach — he posted a .191 average with a .651 OPS and an 87 wRC+ from 2022-2024. And while Grisham played through a hamstring injury for a bit in 2025, he had -2 Outs Above Average, -11 Defensive Runs Saved and a -3 Fielding Run Value, all career worsts, with a sprint speed that ranked in the 32nd percentile.

Because Grisham was given the qualifying offer, he also had draft pick compensation attached to his free agency. A team paying the competitive balance tax would have lost its second- and fifth-highest selections, as well as $1 million from its international bonus pool for the upcoming signing period, for inking Grisham. A revenue-sharing team would have forfeited its third-highest pick.

Generally speaking, qualifying offers and the accompanying draft pick compensation can depress a free agent’s market. Grisham can try his hand at free agency again next year without the detriment of the qualifying offer.

For now, Grisham is expected to remain the Yankees’ center fielder despite a down defensive season. Grisham can be traded, though he would have to give his consent before June 15 after accepting the qualifying offer.

The Yankees are also expected to continue their pursuit of re-signing Cody Bellinger.

Just last week, Brian Cashman said the Yankees would remain engaged with Bellinger regardless of Grisham’s qualifying offer decision.

“We’d be happy if [Grisham] accepted [the qualifying offer] and came back,” Cashman said. “If we get a call at some point that he accepts, our conversations with Scott Boras on Bellinger will continue, and we’ll see where that takes us. And if [Grisham] rejects, we’ll be talking to both Grisham and Bellinger regardless, and then we’ll continue keeping an eye on the guys we have from within.”’

With Grisham and Ryan Yarbrough back, the Yankees’ projected competitive balance tax payroll for 2026 is about $282.53 million. The second-highest threshold for competitive balance tax penalties is $284 million in 2026, while the highest threshold is $304 million.

With Bellinger wanted back and the Yankees also looking for pitching help and a platoon bench bat, the team will have a tough time staying under a $300 million payroll, an amount that owner Hal Steinbrenner has called “unsustainable” despite exceeding it each of the last two seasons.

Cashman said that the Yankees have a “fluid” payroll and that he hasn’t been given an “ultimate” number to work with.

“Out of all the things that we have here with the organization, payroll usually is not an issue that we’ve had to deal with much of,” he added.

If the Yankees are also able to retain Bellinger, they could trade one of their young outfielders — Jasson Domínguez or top-100 prospect Spencer Jones — for help elsewhere on the roster.

The team believes the defensively limited Domínguez is better off in left, which is where Bellinger would primarily play, while Jones still comes with concerns over his strikeout and contact rates despite a monstrous 2025 campaign split between Double-A and Triple-A.

“If one of those guys comes back, it creates nice competition,” Cashman said of Grisham and Bellinger. “If both come back, then maybe it creates trade flexibility.”