The Yankees have roster decisions to make Tuesday, but the day’s most significant decision regarding their 2026 season is out of their hands.
Will Trent Grisham accept $22.025 million for one year or decline and seek a longer-term offer? The path chosen will help dictate much of the rest of the Yankees’ offseason.
If Grisham — a career .213, .697-OPS hitter before his breakout last season — accepts the qualifying offer, the Yankees would have a large chunk of money allocated to a center fielder with several other outfielders affected.
Would Grisham’s presence render Cody Bellinger a luxury, the Yankees allowing the far more expensive outfielder/first baseman to head elsewhere? Would the Yankees bring back both and envision Bellinger playing the same utility role he assumed last season — thus blocking spots for Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones, who would be minimized or become trade bait? If Bellinger is retained and the Yankees’ payroll spirals out of Hal Steinbrenner’s comfort zone, would Grisham himself become a trade piece?
If Grisham — who would be a rarity on the market as a 29-year-old capable of playing center field and coming off a strong, 34-homer season — rejects the qualifying offer, he would become a free agent and likely be able to land a multiyear contract, even while hampered by the draft-pick compensation that the Yankees would net. If so, the Yankees would be further incentivized to reel in Bellinger (who can play center), left field would be cleared for Domínguez and Jones, who has come through the system as primarily a center fielder, would have a better chance of cracking the roster.
A lot hinges on the decision of Grisham, who either is coming off a revelatory season or a fluke season. There are few center-field options available in free agency, which factored into the Yankees’ decision to extend the qualifying offer and would be a factor if Grisham declines that offer.
“He had a hell of a year for us,” GM Brian Cashman said last week, “… and we’d be happy if he accepted and came back.”
On what will be a busy day for roster machinations, the Yankees also must decide which prospects they want to protect from the Rule 5 draft.
Jones, fresh off a 35-homer campaign in the minors, is a lock to be added to the 40-man roster, as is righty starter Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz. Other candidates include top pitching prospect Chase Hampton — a complicated case because he is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery — along with starters Brendan Beck, Bailey Dees, Allen Facundo, Henry Lalane, Zach Messinger and Brock Selvidge, relievers Harrison Cohen and Eric Reyzelman and infielder T.J. Rumfield.
If left off the roster, players can be selected by other teams at the Dec. 10 draft. Those players would become fully part of their new organizations if they survive the entire 2026 season on the active major league roster.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
