The New York Yankees have two talented hitters reaching free agency this offseason.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham, two left-handed sluggers who fit right in at Yankee Stadium, both reached the end of their contracts and are now officially free agents.
It’s going to be a complicated offseason with MLB likely heading for a lockout on Dec. 1. That will increase uncertainty in the months ahead for both the big-market teams and the small-market clubs.
For the Yankees, though, it turns out that Chisholm and Grisham probably won’t be adding to the complexity much.
A new article from ESPN on Monday makes it clear where their situations are heading.
Yankees’ Plans With Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo wrote this line about the Yankees’ lefty hitters in the new article on Monday:
“Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham are as good as gone so they’ll need to figure out center field and second base. But there are internal options for all those uncertainties.”
It’s hard to get more definitive in a context like this than “as good as gone.”
It sure sounds like Chisholm and Grisham will be in new uniforms next offseason, and that does make some sense.
Chisholm is likely going to be more expensive than the Yankees would like, and his inconsistencies were tough for New York to deal with at times. And with the chance to put someone like Anthony Volpe or Luis Garcia at second base — or pursue a different free agent like Brandon Lowe — the Yanks don’t have much to worry about at that spot.
Grisham regressed in 2026 and simply wasn’t going to be a helpful enough piece of the Yankees’ roster going forward. With the emergence of Spencer Jones, the Yankees have to feel good about their outfield options, too.
Yankees Free Agent Outlook
The above blurb by Castillo was in a larger point by Castillo where he was writing that he expects the cross-town Mets to be more busy this offseason.
The Yankees have less business to take care of, although they also have to address closer with David Bednar in free agency.
“The Yankees believe they have a championship contender with a few tweaks,” Castillo writes. “The Mets, after missing the playoffs consecutive seasons, are still laying the foundation.”
Yankees fans are obviously not happy about coming up short of the World Series again and not winning since 2009.
But all they have to do is look at the 2026 Mets and see how things could go a lot worse for one of the most expensive rosters in baseball.
Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham Fates Appear Sealed