ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels announced on Monday that they have acquired infielder Vaughn Grissom from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for outfield prospect Isaiah Jackson. Grissom lands with the Halos in the organization’s newest move, in an offseason that has seen them bring in numerous former top prospects.

Jackson, the number 25 prospect in the Angels’ farm system, is the lone piece heading to Boston in the deal. Selected by Los Angeles in the eighth round of the 2025 draft, the 21-year-old slashed .219/.324/.344 in just ten games at High-A.

Grissom lands with his third team in the big leagues, once a promising prospect in the Atlanta Braves farm system that has yet to live up to that same potential. Getting called up straight from Double-A to the big leagues in 2022, he posted an impressive .291/.353/.440 line through his first 156 plate appearances.

However, Grissom struggled to find playing time throughout the rest of his tenure in Atlanta before eventually being traded to Boston for Chris Sale. Despite a change of scenery and the hope that he would make an impact in the starting lineup for the Red Sox, those expectations never materialized.

The now 24-year-old ended up battling hamstring injuries on both legs and was forced to open 2024 on the injured list. He ended up with just 105 big-league at-bats, spending the majority of the season hitting .259/.385/.373.

More frustration followed in 2025 as Grissom did not find himself on the Major League roster for Boston at all. He continued to battle injury at the Triple-A level, appearing in 96 games before seeing his season end in August after going on the injured list with plantar fasciitis.

Grissom will have an opportunity to earn some playing time in an Angels infield that has questions to be answered involving second and third base. While Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel are set to be locks for shortstop and first base, Anthony Rendon’s swirling retirement rumors and the lack of a consistent second base option leave the door ajar. 

It’s a low-risk, potentially high-upside move for Los Angeles, as Kurt Suzuki and his staff will look to bring out the version of Grissom that turned heads during his early days in Atlanta. With less than two years of service time, the Angels can retain him for five full seasons before reaching free agency if he ends up blossoming into an impact player.

Earlier this offseason, it was Alek Manoah and Greyson Rodriguez, both former first-round picks who showed flashes but have more recently dealt with injury struggles. Now, Grissom becomes the latest project that Perry Minasian has decided to pull the trigger on in hopes of a resurgence.