TAMPA, Fla. — Trent Grisham says delaying free agency for a year to return to the Yankees in 2026 “wasn’t that hard” of a decision.
Makes sense.
Coming off a 34-homer breakout season, the two-time Gold Glove center fielder was projected to get around $45-million contract for three years and he ended up with almost half for just one season when he accepted the Yankees’ $22.025 qualifying offer.
Grisham more than quadrupled his $5 million salary, so this was an easy call, right?
Apparently, but Grisham swears the deciding factor wasn’t about money.
He says this wasn’t about opting to potentially leave upwards of another $20 million guaranteed on the table.
He says this wasn’t about weighing possibly ending up with a lot less on the open market because free agents who receive qualifying offers often lose out because the new team loses a high draft pick as compensation.
None of that is what swayed Grisham back to the Yankees, he contends.
“I want to win,” Grisham told NJ.com after Tuesday’s spring training practice. “That’s really what the driving factor was. I’m a firm believer of if you keep playing this game long enough, the money takes care of itself. That’s never the biggest factor for me.”
This decision, Grisham says, was about taking another shot at winning a World Series with primarily the same roster that tied for the most wins in the American League last season with one big exception, 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole’s expected return from Tommy John surgery sometime in the summer.
“I did my due diligence and saw what was going on in the market, but at the end of the day it’s about winning for me,” Grisham added. “I felt like this place really cares about winning and wants to do it every year.
“The guys in this clubhouse are very talented and have that focus. So that’s really what drew me back. I love the guys and wanted to come back.”
After Grisham was back in the fold, it became an offseason trend for the Yankees, who re-signed five of their free agents, most notably star left fielder Cody Bellinger in January to a five-year, $162.5-million contract. Counting first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and infielder/outfielder Amed Rosario returning, too, the Yanks have all of the pieces back from an offense that led the AL in runs scored, homers and OPS last season.
Grisham knows a lot of Yankees fans are down on management for not adding new big-money pieces to last season’s nucleus. He feels differently. He thinks the “running it back” theme was the right way to go because of two important factors, talent and togetherness.
“It’s rare in this business to be able to almost have almost the same team,” Grisham said. “I think the value in that is underlooked. We look at it as building. We built so much camaraderie last year as a team. I think that goes a long way in winning championships.
“And I think that we’re very talented. That’s how I look at it. I’m very excited to quote, unquote run it back. These guys are awesome. Coming here this spring, I feel like that camaraderie picked up where we left off.”
Grisham wants to pick up where he left off. Actually, he hoping to further elevate his game.
His 2025 season was a pleasant surprise even for the Yankees. They thought they’d get a lot more than Grisham gave them in 2024, his first Yankees season, but as an often-used fourth outfielder who brings excellent center-field play, left-handed power and a good share of walks to go with a bunch of strikeouts.
Everyone underestimated Grisham, who doubled his previous career best in homers, 17 in 2022 with the Padres. His 74 RBIs, 82 walks and .811 OPS also were new personal highs and his .235 batting average was a big spike from three below-Mendoza Line seasons in a row, .184 in 2022, .198 in 2023 and .190 in 2024.
After starting just one of the Yankees’ first five games, Grisham homered his way to regular starts early in the season and by late April he often was leading off against right-handed starters.
“Now I’ve got to do it again,” Grisham said. “Keep getting better.”
Take his game to an even higher level?
Is that realistic?
“It depends on who you’re talking to,” Grisham said. “If you ask me, yes. I think there’s plenty in the tank for me to keep getting better.”
