A year ago, the New York Yankees expected Trent Grisham to make one decision, and he made the opposite.
The Yanks extended Grisham a qualifying offer after the 2025 season as what they felt was a matter of procedure. They expected him to decline it, and so if he declined it and signed elsewhere in free agency, the Yankees would get draft pick compensation.
Grisham didn’t decline the ‘QO’ last offseason, though. He accepted it, giving himself a one-year deal for about $22 million for the 2026 season.
It was a game-changing outcome for the Yankees, who had to scramble a bit to fill out their roster and retain Cody Bellinger.
But it also ends up being a costly choice for Grisham, one that likely cost him millions of dollars.
Trent Grisham Decision Costs Himself Millions
If Grisham hadn’t taken the qualifying offer last offseason, it seems like he would’ve gotten a multi-year deal for a strong annual average value in free agency.
Based on his 2025 season, it wouldn’t have been a shock for Grisham to get a three-year, $60 million contract last offseason.
Grisham is now a free agent this offseason after the expiry of his one-year deal, and there’s no chance he gets anything near that dollar amount.
Even if it was a slight one-year boost from what Grisham would’ve gotten on a multi-year deal — and it’s not a guarantee that it was — it’s clear that 2026’s salary combined with whatever comes next for Grisham will add up to less than he would’ve made on a multi-year contract signed a year ago.
Grisham regressed a lot in 2026, including defensively, and so his outlook for free agency is simply a lot worse than it would’ve been if he had a repeat campaign as 2025.
Trent Grisham Contract Outlook
With Grisham looking unlikely to be a centerfielder going forward, his value drops even more.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel summed up Grisham’s free agency like this in a new article on Tuesday:
“Grisham accepted the QO last winter, when I thought he’d get enough multiyear interest to decline it and hit the open market. He had a bad season in 2026, with offensive regression everywhere but strikeout rate and his center field defense graded as below average for the second year in a row. But he was quite unlucky relative to his underlying contact quality stats, so I could see a team eyeing Grisham as a bounce-back candidate in a mostly corner-outfield role on a one-year deal.”
Grisham could still do well for himself over the next few years if he puts together a bounceback 2027 season. It just doesn’t seem like he’ll ever have a chance to maximize his own value like he could’ve a year ago.
Yankees’ Trent Grisham Cost Himself Millions With Decision