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Ranking Yankees OF Trent Grisham's Top 10 Landing Spots Ahead of MLB Free Agency
Trent Grisham turning into one of the most coveted outfielders in this class of free agents has been a truly stunning development.
At this time one year ago, he was a prime candidate for the dreaded "non-tender" designation, batting below .200 for a third consecutive year. The Yankees ultimately chose to retain him, but he accepted a pay cut in his final year of arbitration eligibility, earning $5M for this season after receiving $5.5M in 2024.
Do you realize how disappointing you need to be to take a pay cut as an arbitration-eligible player? Even Cody Bellinger received a $900k pay bump after his disastrous .542 OPS, negative-1.6 bWAR season in 2021, because that's just the way it usually goes.
Now the question is: Who most wants to invest in this suddenly slugging, two-time Gold Glove center fielder? And how substantial will that investment be?
We've ranked what we believe to be the top 10 suitors of Grisham this winter.
What Will Trent Grisham Be Worth in Free Agency?
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Grisham's Career Stats: .218/.321/.400, 104 HR, 320 RBI, 50 SB, 14.6 bWAR, 12.7 fWAR
While Grisham's flurry of 34 home runs was a new development, having him provide decent wins above replacement while playing on a near-everyday basis wasn't new.
2024 was a disaster, but Grisham was worth at least 1.7 WAR in each year from 2020-23.
Prospective buyers need to decide whether or not this power surge is sustainable, though, or if Grisham is merely the most recent player in a lineage that includes Brady Anderson, Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley, each of whom had a random season with at least twice as many home runs as any other in his career.
For what it's worth, Spotrac's calculations based on "comparable" players put Grisham's market value at four years, $48.2M.
That's an AAV of a bit less than $12M, and it feels a bit low for the soon-turning-29 outfielder, considering a 32-year-old Jurickson Profar got a three-year, $42M deal ($14M AAV) after his wholly unexpected dynamite year at the dish in 2024.
Something close to $48M on a three-year deal is more likely, as Grisham might just stay with the Yankees on a one-year, $22M qualifying offer if his market on a somewhat long-term deal is barely half of that per year.
10. Detroit Tigers
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Riley Greene, CF Parker Meadows, RF Wenceel Pérez/Kerry Carpenter
Save for Riley Greene in left, Detroit's 2025 outfield was a revolving door of "Maybe this will work today?"
Aside from Javier Báez's unexpected success in center early in the year, it rarely did work.
Though they snuck into the playoffs and into the ALDS, the Tigers have some roster tweaking to do after their collapse over the final five weeks of the regular season. Near the top of the to-do list might be getting a center fielder who appears in at least 60 percent of team games for what would be the first time since Anthony Gose in 2015.
9. Chicago Cubs
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Ian Happ, CF Pete Crow-Armstrong, RF Owen Caissie
PCA is the full-time CF in Wrigley Field, so if Grisham—who has not appeared at any defensive position other than center since 2019—has no interest in sliding to RF, go ahead and remove the Cubs from this list of candidates.
But with Kyle Tucker probably gone this offseason and both Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki hitting free agency next winter, Chicago surely has some interest in adding a veteran who can regularly man one of the corner outfield spots.
At any rate, if they don't add someone this winter and neither of their prized prospects, Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcántara, is ready for regular work come Opening Day, they may live to regret it.
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8. Texas Rangers
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Wyatt Langford, CF Evan Carter, RF Alejandro Osuna
Though Adolis García has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining before reaching free agency, the scuttlebutt from those with boots on the ground in Arlington is that he is "almost certainly done in Texas after this season," per Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant.
But who replaces him?
23-year-old Osuna, who had a sub-.600 OPS in 63 games played this season?
29-year-old rookie Michael Helman, who had a modest .773 OPS in Triple A over the past four seasons?
Top prospect Sebastian Walcott making a position change and making his MLB debut shortly after turning 20?
Maybe signing Grisham and sliding Carter to RF is the simplest answer.
7. Kansas City Royals
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Jonathan India, CF Kyle Isbel, RF Jac Caglianone
Grisham is the rare combination of "relevant enough for us to write an entire landing spots article about" and "affordable enough that the Royals legitimately could be in the mix."
Goodness knows Kansas City's outfield situation has been problematic enough over the past two years for them to do something semi-drastic by their standards. They had 15 different players make at least a dozen appearances in the outfield in 2025 alone, with Isbel the only one to appear in at least 70 games. And even Isbel isn't exactly irreplaceable here.
Got to do something before they waste another year of Bobby Witt Jr.'s prime.
6. Los Angeles Angels
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Taylor Ward, CF Bryce Teodosio, RF Jo Adell
The Angels already have two outfielders who hit at least 34 home runs with a sub-.350 on-base percentage in 2025.
What's one more?
Teodosio had been their regular in center since the beginning of August, but with one home run and 47 strikeouts in 150 trips to the plate, the 26-year-old rookie hasn't remotely locked down that gig on a long-term basis.
The Angels could definitely use some left-handed pop in that lineup, too, as only 34 of their 226 home runs this season came from that side of the plate.
Might be underselling them at No. 6 here, but trying to predict what Arte Moreno will do next has long been a fool's errand.
5. New York Mets
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Brandon Nimmo, CF Jeff McNeil, RF Juan Soto
Center field was, not surprisingly, a real adventure for the Mets in 2025. The Jose Siri/Tyrone Taylor platoon never struck fear into the hearts of anyone, and Cedric Mullins was slumping something awful for most of his first four months in Baltimore before playing just as poorly in New York.
But could at least one of their top prospects be ready for 2026?
2024 first-round pick Carson Benge and 2022 first-round pick Jett Williams are each ranked top 30 overall on MLB.com's prospect pipeline, both can play center field and both ended the regular season at Triple-A Syracuse. If nothing changes, both would enter spring training legitimately in the mix for regular playing time out of the gates next year.
Even if they don't necessarily expect either one to be ready six months from now, the plan might just be to let it ride with either McNeil or Taylor—both of whom are under team control for at least one more year—in center until one of those prospects is ready. Because with neither Nimmo nor Soto going anywhere any time soon, if you bring in a guy like Grisham on a four-year deal, you're embracing a logjam, keeping potential future stars from having any sort of runway to playing time.
Still, after the mess that center field was in 2025, they might make a run at Grisham, deciding that too much of a good thing actually can be a good thing.
4. Houston Astros
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Jesús Sánchez, CF Jake Meyers, RF Cam Smith/Zach Cole
What a long and winding road it has been since the 2022 World Series, in which Houston's primary outfield trio was Yordan Alvarez, Chas McCormick and Kyle Tucker.
Both Jake Meyers and Cam Smith got out to impressive starts to this season, and Jesús Sánchez's first month with Houston after the trade deadline was respectable enough. None of the three did much of anything in September to prevent the Astros' collapse, though, and the prospect of entering 2026 with this as Plan A—or, worse, Alvarez regularly playing in left field after his injury-plagued 2025 campaign—has to be a bit terrifying for the Astros faithful.
However, if they sign Grisham and get him to hit at anything close to the level of excellence with which he has typically hit against them, that's a game-changer.
In 19 career games against Houston, Grisham has triple-slashed .290/.355/.623 with seven home runs. That .978 OPS is his best against any team. And adding him would allow them to put an end to the five-year-long platoon of Meyers and McCormick posting a combined OPS of around .700 in center field.
Even with Framber Valdez headed for free agency, though, money could be tight.
Cristian Javier ($10.4M to $21.4M) and Yordan Alvarez ($15.8M to $26.8M) are each making $11M more in 2026 than they did in 2025. And while the Twins included a nice bag of cash in the trade deadline blockbuster, owing Carlos Correa $21.5M next season wasn't part of the plan a few months ago.
With seven players already owed at least $17.7M apiece and the rotation arguably needing more work than the outfield, Grisham might not fit in the budget.
3. New York Yankees
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Jasson Domínguez, CF Spencer Jones, RF Aaron Judge
In Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger, the Yankees are liable to lose their two team leaders in outfield appearances for a second consecutive year, after needing to replace Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo this past winter.
Bellinger has a player option which he will almost certainly decline, but the Yankees figure to make a spirited effort to re-sign him. Frankly, it's more likely he'll be their Opening Day center fielder than either Grisham or Spencer Jones. For the time being, though, he's projected to hit the open market.
With Grisham, it feels like there's about a 50/50 chance New York extends him the $22M qualifying offer, probably a better than 50/50 chance he'll decline it and a small, but non-zero chance he re-signs with the Yankees on a multi-year deal.
What's wild about Grisham's breakout year with the Yankees, though, is he didn't even make the most of that short porch in right field. Of his 34 home runs, only 13 came at home, his road OPS (.904) more than 200 points greater than what he managed to accomplish at Yankee Stadium (.702).
He easily could have eclipsed 40 by capitalizing on what is usually a haven for left-handed sluggers, and maybe the Yankees will re-invest in him on the basis that he actually underachieved at home and could provide even more value over the next few years than he did this season.
2. Philadelphia Phillies
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Brandon Marsh, CF Justin Crawford/Johan Rojas, RF Nick Castellanos
The Phillies do have a $10M mutual option with Harrison Bader, but there is about a negative-five percent chance that a 31-year-old fresh off the best season of his career will agree to his half of that option instead of pursuing way more money in free agency.
Perhaps they do prioritize re-signing Bader instead of going after Grisham. Regardless, they'll enter the offseason with Marsh and Castellanos as the only established outfielders on the roster. And even calling Castellanos an "established outfielder" is a bit generous, as a center fielder with plus range is a near-must to make up for him.
To that end, Bader has proven himself a fantastic option, while Grisham is a darn good Plan B. Either one could fit the bill if the Phillies aren't prepared to hand the reins to top prospect, Justin Crawford.
And if Grisham's new-found pop is for real, there's no better home for him than Citizens Bank Park, which Statcast's Park Factors suggests has been the most homer-happy venue for left-handed hitters over the past three years.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
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Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Andy Pages, CF Tommy Edman, RF Teoscar Hernández
I know what you're thinking: Of course it's the (insert your preferred expletive) Dodgers at No. 1!
Rest assured, though, this isn't just some "Well, they sign everyone" lazy rationale. In fact, I've already done our Pete Alonso and Dylan Cease landing spots articles without putting the Dodgers in the top 10 for either of them.
Grisham simply seems like a good fit for them as they mercifully move on from giving Michael Conforto regular playing time in the outfield.
Yes, the outfield trio above is formidable. If given the option of trading their projected outfield for Andy Pages, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández, the vast majority of teams would accept in a heartbeat.
However, committing to Edman as an everyday center fielder is a risky proposition with his injury history. If the Dodgers had to pick one home for him, they'd likely prefer second base. But what they'd really like to do is use him as more of a floater who gets regular playing time as the backup at a bunch of different positions, especially with utilitymen Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas both now free agents.
So bring on Grisham, who has a solid glove, who out-homered every Dodger not named Shohei Ohtani in 2025, and whose left-handed stroke should fare well at Dodger Stadium.
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