The New York Yankees play their first regular-season game just over two weeks from now, and one star is finding himself in a rather precarious spot.
That player is Trent Grisham.
We’ve been over the Yankees’ decision to tender a qualifying offer to Grisham ad nauseam over the last several months. Grisham surprisingly accepted, which means New York is on the hook for $22 million in 2026.
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Surely, the Yankees thought Grisham would land a multi-year deal elsewhere and were just aiming to land a compensatory draft pick in return. Or perhaps New York was just trying to secure some insurance in the event that Cody Bellinger walked.
In any case, Grisham’s presence in center field is blocking the promotion of Spencer Jones, who has been tearing it up in Spring Training and has yet to hit the big-league level in spite of getting ready to turn 25 years old in May.
Meanwhile, Grisham has gone just 2-for-17 in exhibition games thus far, and while that’s obviously an incredibly small sample size, you do have to wonder if the Yankees will have a rather short leash on the 28-year-old this season.
The fact of the matter is that New York cannot wait much longer to debut Jones. At some point, the Yanks will need to determine whether or not Jones will comprise a legitimate building block moving forward or a trade asset.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham. Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images.
The Yankees can’t keep stalling here. Jones is not even finding himself on top-100 prospect lists anymore, so it’s time to you know what or get off the pot.
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And has Grisham really earned a massive vote of confidence from the Bronx Bombers?
Yes, the former first-round pick smashed 34 home runs while posting an .811 OPS last season, but his defense (minus-11 DRS) fell off a cliff, and he only had 10 extra-base hits outside of his homers.
What’s more, Grisham batted below .200 the preceding three campaigns and owns a lifetime .218/.321/.400 slash line since entering the big leagues in 2019.
Up until last year, the Burleson, Tx. native was never a great bat, and while late blooming is a thing, you do have to wonder if Grisham was merely a one-year wonder in 2025. Especially based on how terrible he was in the playoffs.
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If Grisham gets off to a rough start to begin the 2026 campaign, I’m not sure New York will waste much time in benching him for Jones, particularly if Jones puts forth an impressive early showing at Triple-A.
The walls may not be closing in on Grisham just yet, but he is not exactly standing on concrete, either.
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