David Lennon: Yankees' Trent Grisham was smart to take qualifying offer and run
The Yankees' Trent Grisham celebrates in the dugout after scoring in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a spring training game on Tuesday in Dunedin, Fla. Credit: Getty Images/Julio Aguilar
TAMPA, Fla.— As decisions go, Trent Grisham didn’t come right out and call it a no-brainer to accept the qualifying offer of $22.025 million from the Yankees in November.
But in talking to him about the move, you get the sense that the hardest part for him was finding a pen.
Let’s just spitball for a second. Grisham had earned roughly $15.4 million in his first seven seasons in the majors, and with him coming off a career year — 34 homers, .811 OPS — the Yankees, to quote one of general manager Brian Cashman’s favorite sayings, hit him over the head with the proverbial big bag of money.
This year’s qualifying offer was more than four times greater than Grisham’s highest-ever salary ($5.5 million in 2024) and an astronomical raise from the $5 million he made last season as perhaps MLB’s best bargain.
The financial windfall alone was impossible to walk away from. Then you add the Yankees factor — they’re the Vegas favorites to win the American League pennant — and the idea of possibly winding up with a multiyear deal in a bottom-feeder place such as Anaheim, Miami or Colorado doesn’t sound so appealing.
Rich beyond his imagination, with another opportunity to bat leadoff and play centerfield for the Yankees alongside Aaron Judge. And Grisham, 29, was supposed to say thanks, but no thanks? No chance.
“For me I think it boiled down to wanting to win,” Grisham told Newsday before Thursday’s 7-3 win over Atlanta. “That’s really what I value most when looking at teams and going through the process. At the end of the day, we have a really good shot to win here — year in and year out, really.”
Before this winter, the qualifying offer usually was viewed as an automatic mechanism for a team to grab its compensatory draft pick while the departing free agent hunted a huge payday. But Grisham was among a record four players to opt for the whopper one-year deal, joining Shota Imanaga (Cubs), Gleyber Torres (Tigers) and Brandon Woodruff (Brewers). Nine players declined.
It’s also worth noting that if Grisham had rejected the qualifying offer, being saddled with that draft pick tends to be a serious drag on a player’s market, especially at his price point. By accepting, Grisham got the third-highest average annual value among outfielders who signed new deals, behind only the Dodgers’ Kyle Tucker ($60M) and teammate Cody Bellinger ($32.5M). Overall, Grisham tied for 12th.
“It was a pretty simple process for me,” he said. “The market kind of made itself pretty evident early, and having that understanding, it was as easy as it could be.”
Trying to dig a bit deeper into his Bronx comfort level, I asked Grisham how much he dissected the data at Yankee Stadium, with the belief that he can maximize his performance at the hitter-friendly ballpark for next year’s bite at free agency. Data, it seems, is not his thing.
“I personally don’t crunch numbers,” Grisham said. “I’m more of an old-school guy. I don’t try to overthink stuff. Paralysis by analysis is a real thing.”
Pushing back on analytics also tends to be a rare thing in 21st century baseball. But it’s what you might expect from a slugger who doesn’t wear batting gloves and typically eschews any information beyond the traditional scouting reports and video.
It’s tough to argue with Grisham’s methodology. Last season, he capitalized on his walk year by delivering career bests in homers (34), RBIs (74), slugging percentage (.464), OPS (.811) and OPS+ (125).
“It’s definitely a learned behavior,” Grisham said. “Having played a while, and growing up in the first stages of [analytics], from being around it so much, you have a very good understanding. You don’t really need to, in my opinion, with a personality like mine, be in the weeds with it. But for me, it’s always about keeping the main thing the main thing.”
And game prep?
“Just what I guess baseball players have been doing since the beginning of time,” Grisham said. “Everybody prepares differently, but nothing’s new under the sun. Guys have been doing it for 100 years. So I’d say more along those lines than trying to figure out every pitch that someone’s thrown the past two weeks and predict what’s going to happen in the future.
“I don’t like to play that game. I just like to have a general awareness of what’s going on, trust my instincts, trust my process and go.”
To Grisham, the game’s the thing, and though he appears to be operating at a lower gear sometimes — the centerfielder was famously called “The Big Sleep” by manager Aaron Boone — it would be a mistake to assume he’s not paying attention. Just ask the three-time MVP who bats behind him.
It’s no coincidence that Grisham is Judge’s locker neighbor here at Steinbrenner Field. The captain is situated at the end of the row, so there’s only an exit door on his other side. They’re fast friends around the batting cage, and Judge values Grisham’s instant scouting reports in-game as he passes along intel to him waiting in the on-deck circle.
“He’s a guy that knows his craft, perfects his craft, and it’s fun to watch,” Judge said. “He’s knowledgeable in the outfield, he’s knowledgeable at the plate. Maybe we talked about a guy’s fastball before the game, he’ll give me something like, hey, it’s not moving that much or it’s getting on you a click early. He’s just always giving me good little nuggets like that. He knows the game inside and out.”
Enough for Cashman to call the newly signed Grisham a “bargain,” as he did on MLB Network Radio earlier this month?
That’s a stretch. But if Grisham comes anywhere close to duplicating his power production of a year ago, that’s a win for both sides. As of right now, before Opening Day, it was Grisham who won the offseason.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
