Yankees offseason news, free agency analysis by Pete Caldera, Anthony McCarron
Pete Caldera, Yankees beat writer for The Record and NorthJersey.com, and SNY’s Anthony McCarron discuss potential Yankees moves this winter.
NEW YORK – Trent Grisham has accepted the Yankees’ $22.025 million qualifying offer, declining the opportunity to become a free agent.
As a result, the Yankees at least have insurance at center field if Cody Bellinger – the team’s top winter target – signs elsewhere in free agency, but at high price on a one-year deal.
Additionally on Tuesday, the Yankees added slugging outfield prospect Spencer Jones to their 40-man roster along with right-handers Chase Hampton and Elmer Rodriguez.
Rather than exploring opportunities in a thin free agent market for center fielders, the lefty-hitting Grisham chose the security of a guaranteed 2026 contract at what is likely an over-market one-year figure.
Last week, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said, “we’d be happy” if Grisham “accepted and came back” to the club in 2026, since “this is a very thin outfield market.” and Grisham “had a hell of a year for us” in 2025.
With the possibility of a lockout before the 2027 season (the collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026), Grisham might have been further swayed by the protection of a lucrative one-year deal.
If Grisham had declined the QO, the Yankees would have received a minor draft pick as compensation from Grisham’s signing team.
Yankees’ pursuit of Cody Bellinger
Regardless of Grisham’s decision, the Yankees are intent on seeking a reunion with Bellinger.
“We’re very interested in bringing him back,” Cashman said last week of Bellinger, who can play all the outfield positions and first base.
“He’s going to have a lot of choices because he can do a lot of different things,” said Cashman, who called Bellinger “a terrific addition for us,” and added that “we’d be better served if we can retain him.”
A client of super-agent Scott Boras, the lefty-hitting Bellinger might command a long-term contract of at least $150 million, and he’s of particular value to the Yankees after a successful 2025 season in pinstripes.
Earlier this month, Bellinger, 30, declined a $25 million player option for 2026, triggering a $5 million buyout and moving into free agency without the QO (having previously been extended one).
Acquired in a contract-dump trade from the Chicago Cubs last December, Bellinger played solidly defensively and batted .272 for the Yanks in 2025 with 29 homers, 98 RBI and an .813 OPS in 152 games.
Bellinger’s 13.7 percent strikeout rate was the lowest of his career, and he batted. 353 (1.016 OPS) against lefty pitching.
If the Yankees are successful in their pursuit of Bellinger, then Grisham (and potentially Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones) would become the subject of future trade discussions.
Last week during the GM meetings, Cashman said that if both Grisham and Bellinger are signed by the Yanks, “maybe it creates trade flexibility.”
Jones, the left-handed power hitting center field prospect, is expected to be in the mix to earn a roster spot out of camp in March.
Cashman said that Jones has been working out at Yankee Stadium and planning to head to the club’s Tampa, Fla. headquarters after the holidays in order to “hit the ground running heading into spring training.”
Jones, 24, batted a combined .274 with 35 homers, 80 RBI and a .932 OPS in 506 plate appearances at Class AA Somerset and Class AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre, but with 179 strikeouts in 116 games.
Trent Grisham had a career year in 2025
Coming off a career-best offensive season, Grisham, 29, was the Yankees’ remaining piece from the December 2023 trade that brought Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres to the Bronx.
Soto signed a record free agent contract with the Mets after the 2024 season, but Grisham “became a lot bigger player than what we bargained for” in 2025, as manager Aaron Boone said last month.
A career .213 hitter who appeared in 76 games with the 2024 Yanks, Grisham played 143 regular season games in 2025 and posted an .811 OPS with 34 home runs and 74 RBI, mostly out of the leadoff spot.
Grisham is also a two-time Gold Glove Award winning center fielder, and though his defensive metrics were down in 2025, he remained a very solid and surehanded defender.
It wasn’t a great postseason, though, as Grisham batted .138 (4-for-29) with two doubles and 10 strikeouts in seven games as the Yanks bowed out in the AL Division Series against Toronto.