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Trent Grisham

Sorting Out The Yankees’ Outfield

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The Yankees came up short against the Blue Jays in the ALDS, but the front office has already gotten to work retooling the team, specifically in the outfield. New York extended the qualifying offer to Trent Grisham, which he accepted. Cody Bellinger opted out of his contract, but the team is interested in bringing him back. The team has been linked to top free agent Kyle Tucker. With at most one spot available alongside Aaron Judge and Grisham, where does that leave Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones?

Dominguez delivered league-average results at the plate in his first full season of MLB action. He was widely regarded as New York’s top prospect before last season. Given his pedigree, Dominguez is likely overqualified as a fourth outfielder. Jones is probably due for a call-up after launching 35 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A last season, but adding him to the roster without a clear role could stunt his development.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had the Yankees dealing Jones when he outlined one trade candidate for each team. Feinsand’s colleague Bryan Hoch mentioned Dominguez and Jones popping up in trade talks if the team secures one of Bellinger or Tucker. Let’s dig into those possibilities.

Trade Dominguez, Keep Jones

Dominguez debuted in 2023 and immediately made an impact, hitting four home runs in eight games. His season was cut short by a UCL injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. Recovery from the procedure limited Dominguez to 76 games between the minors and majors in 2024. He was a regular for the Yankees this past season, patrolling left field for the majority of the year, while also spending time at DH. The results at the plate were … fine. Dominguez put up a 103 wRC+ as a 22-year-old, finishing with 10 home runs and 23 stolen bases.

The main concern with Dominguez was in the field. He recorded a miserable -10 Outs Above Average and -7 Defensive Runs Saved. Dominguez finished with a -9 Fielding Run Value, which ranked as the 16th-worst mark among all qualified fielders. New York was able to hide Dominguez at DH at times last season, but a healthy Giancarlo Stanton will make that difficult.

Even with the defensive shortcomings, Dominguez has shown enough at the plate to command a considerable return in a trade. He’d be the swing-for-the-fences move and could potentially bring back assets that could contribute on the big-league roster right away.

Trade Jones, Keep Dominguez

Jones has the type of profile that makes him both an enticing trade chip and a sell-high candidate. He was a first-rounder in 2022 and has piled up offensive production in every professional season. Jones reached Double-A by the end of 2023 and dominated the level when he repeated it in 2024. The big lefty mashed 17 home runs and stole 25 in 122 games with Somerset. Jones again found himself with the Patriots to begin this past season. He posted a silly 185 wRC+ to finally move to Triple-A, where he hit 19 home runs in 67 games.

While the minor league production is great, spending so much time at Double-A is a red flag, and it seems to be related to Jones’ contact challenges. He’s had at least a 28.2% strikeout rate at every stop since 2023. Jones struck out more than a third of the time in 2024. Even as he piled up home runs with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Jones carried a bloated 36.6% strikeout rate.

Trading Jones would allow the Yankees to cash in on his massive power season and avoid rolling the dice that he’ll make enough contact to succeed as a big leaguer. Of course, inquiring teams would be aware of Jones’ main flaw, but perhaps his pedigree and recent performance would be enough to overlook the swing-and-miss in his game. The return in a trade would be appealing, though it might require taking on assets with their own question marks.

Keep Dominguez and Jones

It’s hard to envision this scenario if New York ends up landing Bellinger or Tucker, but those players will have plenty of suitors. The Yankees could focus on bullpen upgrades in the free agent market instead of making additions on the offensive side. Jones has only played outfield and DH in his minor league career, so there aren’t many ways to fit both players in the lineup. Having Jones repeat Triple-A as a 25-year-old could be considered an admission of his lack of MLB viability, so it probably makes sense to let him fail at the big-league level.

Platooning the switch-hitting Dominguez and the lefty-swinging Jones jumps out as a potential option, but the issue is the former’s struggles from the right side. Dominguez hit just .204 against lefties last season. He was much more productive as a left-handed hitter. Stanton has battled injuries for much of his career, so he probably isn’t equipped to handle everyday DH at-bats at this stage. The Yankees can find enough reps in left field and DH for both Dominguez and Jones, though neither would be a full-time player.

Even if New York keeps both players this offseason, they could still make a move during the year. Finding a trade partner once teams are dealing with injuries and underperformance should be an easier task.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Yankees Notes: Devin Williams, Kyle Tucker, Payroll

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The Yankees are interested in bringing free agent closer Devin Williams back to the Bronx. League sources told Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic that the team has discussed a reunion with Williams’ camp.

Williams is one of the top names on the closer market. He landed at No. 16 on our Top 50 Free Agents list, which put him second among relievers, behind only Edwin Diaz. The 31-year-old is expected to have many suitors, with the Reds and Red Sox linked to him last week, and the Mets, Tigers, and Giants joining the mix this week. The Dodgers and Marlins have also been connected to Williams.

New York sent Caleb Durbin and Nestor Cortes to Milwaukee for Williams in December 2024. He struggled in his first month with the team, losing the closer role by May. An injury to fill-in closer Luke Weaver allowed Williams to regain the role, and he pitched well in June and July. The trade deadline acquisition of David Bednar pushed Williams back into setup duty. He closed the year with his best stretch of the campaign, posting 13 scoreless innings from September 7 through the postseason.

Williams said he would “definitely be open” to returning to the Yankees back in October. As for whether being the closer would impact his next destination, Williams said it “depends on the scenario.” While Weaver is a free agent, New York still has Bednar and fellow trade deadline acquisition Camilo Doval under team control for next season.

Williams isn’t the only high-profile free agent on the Yankees’ radar. General manager Brian Cashman told reporters on Thursday, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, that he’s been in contact with agent Casey Close on several players. That list of possible targets includes Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, Michael King, and former Yankee Paul Goldschmidt. Cashman also mentioned interest in Tatsuya Imai, who was posted by the Seibu Lions earlier this week. “We’re certainly engaging all these players in the marketplace,” Cashman said.

Tucker will likely have just as many suitors as Williams, perhaps more. Toronto is considered by some teams to be the favorite to land the star outfielder, but the Dodgers, Yankees, and Orioles have been linked to him. Given that he’s the big prize in free agency this offseason, additional teams are bound to come forward as potential candidates.

New York regained an outfielder when Trent Grisham accepted the qualifying offer, but lost one when Cody Bellinger opted out of his contract. Jasson Dominguez is penciled in alongside Grisham and Aaron Judge, but he hasn’t performed well enough to discourage the Yankees from going after a massive upgrade in Tucker. They could also re-up with Bellinger.

As far as paying for these potential acquisitions, Cashman was noncommittal about whether payroll would exceed $300MM. “I think it could go both ways. So it just depends on how things shake out and what opportunities present themselves,” he told reporters, including Hoch. FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool currently has the Yankees’ payroll at around $260MM next season. Grisham’s deal added about $22MM to the ledger, and he’s just the sixth-highest-paid player on the team next year. New York’s payroll was around $296MM this past season after topping $300MM in 2024.

A deal for Tucker, Schwarber, Williams, or any of the other marquee names will likely require a big commitment across many years. The Yankees already have several of those types of deals on the books between Judge, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, and Carlos Rodon, who are all on large contracts through at least 2028. Cashman expressed confidence he could make it work, though. “The job right now is to find out what’s available, and those all have different price points,” Cashman said. “There could be cheap players that are available that are good, or there could be very expensive players that are available that are good.”

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Trent Grisham To Accept Qualifying Offer

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Outfielder Trent Grisham is accepting his $22.025MM qualifying offer and will return to the Yankees in 2026, reports ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. Players who accept a QO are considered free agent signings and are thus ineligible to be traded prior to the following June 15 unless they consent to the move.

It’s at least a modest surprise, as Grisham is coming off a breakout year at the plate which saw him club a career-high 34 home runs. He slashed .235/.348/.464, thanks in no small part to a career-best 14.1% walk rate and a 23.6% strikeout rate that stood as the second-lowest in his career. Between that production, the fact that Grisham only just turned 29 earlier this month, and a thin outfield market in free agency, the stars seemed to align for him to pursue a weighty multi-year contract this winter.

Instead, Grisham returns to the site of his breakout and will hold down a key role in an outfield that’s also currently slated to include Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Judge. The Yankees are interested in re-signing Cody Bellinger, have been linked to Kyle Tucker and also have DH Giancarlo Stanton at least loosely in the outfield mix. (He played 132 outfield innings in 2025.)

Grisham’s return muddies the waters a bit, but GM Brian Cashman said recently that even if he accepted, it wouldn’t impact the team’s pursuit of a new deal with Bellinger (link via the New York Post’s Greg Joyce). The Yankees wouldn’t have made the QO to Grisham if they believed his acceptance was a roadblock to bringing back Bellinger or signing Tucker. They’re surely glad to have him back. Even though his defensive grades took an unexpected downturn in ’25, he has the best defensive track record in center of the Yankees’ in-house options.

While Grisham could have looked to cash in this winter, he’ll instead take a hefty one-year payday in what amounts to a bet on himself. Though he’s a left-handed bat, his power output was hardly a product of Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch. In fact, Grisham hit just .195/.326/.376 at home this season, compared to .254/.364/.506 on the road. If he can replicate this year’s huge power production, he could hit the market next offseason on the back of consecutive plus seasons at the plate and without the encumbrance of a qualifying offer. A big enough showing this year could realistically position Grisham for a $100MM+ contract — particularly if his defensive grades rebound, too.

The looming potential for a work stoppage is one other wrinkle to consider, but if anything, today’s glut of QO decisions suggests that players aren’t necessarily going to shy away from short-term deals that put them on the open market next year — at least not en masse. Grisham is one of four players to accept the QO, joining Gleyber Torres, Shota Imanaga and Brandon Woodruff in that regard. In a vacuum, any one of the four accepting his QO wouldn’t be considered a major surprise — but all four accepting in the same offseason is downright atypical. This marks the first time since the inception of the qualifying offer that more than three players have accepted a QO.

With Grisham back in the fold, the Yankees’ projected payroll for the upcoming season jumps to about $263MM, per RosterResource. They’ll now have about $286MM of luxury tax obligations, placing them just over the third penalty line. That means that the Yankees’ top pick in the 2027 draft will drop by 10 places, unless they’re able to sneak their luxury count back under $284MM. Given the wide swath of offseason dealings that’s likely still on the table for Cashman & Co., that doesn’t seem to be a very likely outcome. In all likelihood, the Yankees will wind up in the top CBT penalty tier, just as they’ve done in each of the past three seasons.

Turning to the rest of the league, Grisham’s early removal from the free agent market — to a team that didn’t clearly need to retain him, no less — subtracts arguably the top center field option from the market. Bellinger, of course, can still play center but barely did so in 2025. Most teams probably consider him more of a corner outfielder/first baseman who can play occasional center field. Harrison Bader and Cedric Mullins are the two most notable options still on the market, though the former has been more of a part-time player and the latter is looking to bounce back from an awful 2025 showing. The market was light on center fielders to begin with and is even more so now, so teams looking for help at the position might be more inclined to turn to the trade market to address that deficiency.

13 Players Receive Qualifying Offers

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Thirteen players have received a qualifying offer this year, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The list is as follows:

This year’s QO is valued at $22.025MM. All 13 players will have until Nov. 18 to decide whether to accept that one-year offer or decline and become a free agent. They can spend that time gauging the open market to determine interest in their services. If a player accepts the QO, he’ll be treated as a free agent signing and thus will be ineligible to be traded without his consent until June 15 of next year. If he declines, any team that signs him will be subject to draft and/or international bonus forfeitures, depending on its revenue-sharing and luxury tax status.

The bulk of the list was generally expected. Every recipient other than Torres and Imanaga was pegged as likely or a no-doubter to receive the QO on MLBTR’s annual lists of qualifying offer previews for position players and for pitchers. Torres was viewed as something of a long shot, at least on the MLBTR staff. He’s coming off a nice season in Detroit but struggled through a poor finish — perhaps in part due to injury — and wasn’t hit with a QO last offseason when coming off a comparable year at the plate in the Bronx.

Imanaga was listed as a borderline call on our preview as well. The Cubs declined a three-year, $57.75MM option on Imanaga last week. He subsequently declined a $15.25MM player option (which came with an additional player option at $15.25MM) — effectively opting out of a remaining two years and $30.5MM. The Cubs are banking on Imanaga also turning away one year at just over $22MM after turning down that remaining $30.5MM in guaranteed money.

The qualifying offer is determined each year by taking the average of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. We’ve already covered the penalties that each team would face for signing a qualified free agent, as well as the compensation each club would get for losing a qualified free agent to another team.

Among the notable free agents to not receive a qualifying offer are Lucas Giolito, Robert Suarez, Devin Williams and Jorge Polanco. Giolito might have received one had it not been for a late elbow issue that ended his season. Suarez has been excellent and just opted out of the remaining two years and $16MM on his contract, but he’ll be 35 next year. The Padres have been reducing payroll in recent seasons and likely didn’t want to risk Suarez locking in that weighty one-year sum. Williams would have received a QO with a typical season, but he struggled throughout much of the season’s first four months before a dominant finish. Polanco enjoyed a terrific rebound campaign but is 32 years old and was limited to DH work for much of the season due to ongoing injury issues.

The qualifying offer grants each of these free agents the chance at a notable one-year payday, though the majority of them will reject without much thought. Players like Tucker, Bichette, Schwarber, Valdez, Cease, Suarez and Diaz are likely to see comparable or larger (much larger, in Tucker’s case) salaries on multi-year deals in free agency. Even players like Grisham, who probably won’t land a $22MM annual value over multiple years, are still likely to reject. Major league free agents typically — though not always — prioritize long-term earning over short-term, higher-AAV pacts. A three- or four-year deal worth $14-16MM per year, for instance, is typically viewed as preferable to accepting one year at a higher rate.

There’s risk in declining the offer, of course. Teams are more reluctant to sign players who’ll cost them valuable draft picks and/or notable portions of their hard-capped bonus pool for international amateurs. Every offseason, there are a handful of free agents whose markets are weighed down by the burden of draft pick compensation. That typically applies to the “lower end” of the QO recipients. For top stars like Tucker, Bichette, etc. — draft/international forfeitures are simply considered the cost of doing business and don’t tend to have much (if any) impact on the player’s earning power.

Yankees, Mets Discussed Grisham-For-Baty Trade At Deadline

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Prior to the trade deadline, the Yankees and Mets had some talks about a swap that would’ve generated a ton of headlines in both the Big Apple and around baseball.  According to SNY’s Andy Martino, the two New York teams explored a one-for-one deal that would’ve sent Trent Grisham to Queens in exchange for Brett Baty.

Aaron Judge’s health situation was a major component in these trade discussions, and the Yankees’ entire deadline direction.  Judge hurt his elbow while making a throw from right field on July 22, and the discomfort continued when the star outfielder was clearly having some issues throwing in the Bronx Bombers’ 12-5 loss to the Phillies on July 25.  A trip to the 10-day injured list followed, and Judge was limited to DH duty for over a month after returning from that fairly minimal IL stint.

Importantly, however, Judge’s elbow issue was minor a flexor strain that came without any UCL damage.  The initial fear was that Judge’s UCL was damaged to the point that a season-ending Tommy John surgery would’ve been required, and obviously losing their superstar would’ve completely altered the Yankees’ deadline plans.  As Martino put it, the Yankees had “a thought about selling” in the few days when Judge’s health situation was uncertain, which would’ve translated as the Bombers shopping pending free agents.  An NL scout told Martino in late July that the Yankees were at least open to offers for Grisham, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and Cody Bellinger (who is expected to opt out of the final season of his contract to test the market).

It shouldn’t be overlooked that the Yankees had a losing record (25-27) over June and July, so even with Judge firing on all cylinders, the club was in the midst of an extended slump as the deadline approached.  Losing their first five games in August added to the team’s woes, but the Yankees fully righted the ship by mid-August, going 28-11 over their last 39 games.  With two days left in the regular season, New York can still both capture both the AL East and the top overall seed in the AL playoff bracket, if the team can finish with a better record than the Blue Jays (since Toronto holds the head-to-head tiebreaker).

Grisham has been a big part of that surge, continuing what has been a career year for the 28-year-old outfielder.  Grisham is hitting .238/.349/.469 over 573 plate appearances, along with a total of 34 home runs that far exceeds his previous career high of 17.  In a strange reversal of his career norm, Grisham has gone from being a defensive standout with an average-at-best bat to being a slugging center fielder whose glovework (-11 Defensive Runs Saved, -2 Outs Above Average) has been a minus.

Even if the Yankees had sold some rental players at the deadline, it wasn’t going to be a fire sale.  The team was still looking to win and upgrade the 2025 roster, just in a way that perhaps focused more towards the future than making a direct all-in push towards a World Series this year.  Landing a controllable former top prospect in Baty would have fit the bill, and the Bombers viewed him as an answer at third base, even though he has gotten a lot of time as the Mets’ second baseman this year.

Now in his fourth MLB season, Baty’s 110 wRC+ represents a career best, and he has hit .254/.313/.435 with 18 home runs over 432 PA.  Baty has come about these numbers in inconsistent fashion, and the Mets even demoted him to Triple-A early in the season after an ice-cold start.  While these may not yet be the numbers Queens fans expected given Baty’s lofty prospect status, becoming a solid big league regular is no small feat, and Baty’s latest hot streak has quietly made him one of the more productive hitters in baseball over the last six weeks.

The Mets were reportedly open to trading from their young infield depth at the deadline, with Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, and Luisangel Acuna all available for the right offer.  As it turned out, the Mets ended up primarily trading from their minor league pitching depth when making their pre-deadline moves, though infield prospect Jesus Baez was a prominent part of the trade package sent to the Cardinals for Ryan Helsley.

Rather than Grisham, the Mets addressed their outfield by acquiring Cedric Mullins from the Orioles in a trade that simply hasn’t worked out.  Mullins (who is also a free agent this winter) has hit only .183/.286/.283 over 142 PA in a Mets uniform, playing as the regular center fielder against right-handed pitching.  As for the Yankees, they held onto their impending free agents, and brought in a collection of veterans at the deadline to bolster the roster.  For third base in particular, Ryan McMahon was brought over from the Rockies and has at least stabilized the position from a defensive standpoint, even if McMahon isn’t hitting.

Naturally every deadline season goes by with countless eye-opening trades that didn’t come to fruition, so there’s no shortage of 20-20 hindsight that can be applied to any of these proposed deals.  In this particular Grisham-for-Baty swap, there’s some additional interest just due to the fact that the Yankees and Mets rarely trade with each other, not to mention the sliding-doors nature of what this trade might have done to each team’s season.

While the Yankees have been rolling in September, the Mets’ struggles have now reached critical mass, as the Amazins sit outside the NL postseason picture with two games remaining.  The Reds have a magic number of 2 for clinching the final NL wild card slot, since Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker over New York should the two teams finish with the same record.

With just a 20-31 record since August 1, the Mets’ deadline approach has already come under fire, even if Mullins’ struggles are far from the only reason the club has slumped.  It can be argued that in the world where Baty was dealt for Grisham, the Mets might still be in this same position, given Baty’s recent contributions and the fact that pitching has been the larger issue in Queens.  Hanging onto Baty may prove fruitful in the long run, but it won’t do much to ease the immediate dismay of Mets fans (or the organization itself) since their record payroll may not even result in a postseason trip.

The Yankees’ Outfielders Raising Their Free Agent Stocks

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For the second straight season, the Yankees have the best outfield in baseball. Having the best hitter on the planet is an excellent starting point. This level of dominance can't all come from Aaron Judge, though. Last season, Juan Soto paired with Judge as an all-time 1-2 offensive punch. It seemed almost impossible for the outfield to match last year's .266/.377/.516 line after losing Soto to free agency.

They've instead improved upon that monster production through this season's first two months. Yankee outfielders carry a .293/.380/.533 slash. They lead MLB with 37 home runs and trail only the Cubs with 113 runs batted in. They're handily above the rest of the league in all three slash stats. The Cubs are the only team that is particularly close in terms of FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement.

Judge somehow elevating from a .322/.458/.701 performance is the biggest factor. Yet the Yankees have largely offset the loss of production from Soto -- at least so far -- by not having anyone close to last season's weak link, Alex Verdugo. That's a testament mostly to Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, each of whom have gotten out to excellent starts. (Jasson Domínguez has decent numbers overall as well, though most of that comes from a three-homer barrage in Sacramento on May 9.) The early paces from Bellinger and Grisham provide the Yankees needed lineup depth around Judge and Paul Goldschmidt. They're also significant factors for what looks to be a shallow upcoming free agent class behind Kyle Tucker.

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Yankees Promote Jorbit Vivas

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The Yankees announced that they have recalled infielder Jorbit Vivas. He’ll be making his major league debut if they can get him into a game. He takes the roster spot of outfielder Trent Grisham, who has been placed on the paternity list.

Vivas, 24, has actually been up with the big league club before. In July of last year, he was recalled when infielder J.D. Davis landed on the 10-day injured list. However, he was optioned back down to the minors three days later without getting into a game, so he’s still looking for that MLB debut. Hopefully, he can find his way in this time, as it would be a bit heartbreaking for him to twice get called up and not get any big league action either time.

The Dodgers added him to their 40-man roster back in November of 2021, to keep him out of that year’s Rule 5 draft. He was flipped to the Yankees in December of 2023 alongside left-hander Victor González, with infielder Trey Sweeney going to the Dodgers. Sweeney would later be sent to the Tigers as part of the Jack Flaherty deal, along with Thayron Liranzo.

Vivas is in his final option year and has a huge .342/.432/.493 line through 20 Triple-A games. That’s obviously a small sample but would be a nice breakthrough if he could sustain even some of that. He hit all through the lower levels of the minors but then had a line of just .225/.339/.294 in 26 Triple-A games in the Dodgers’ system in 2023. With the Yanks last year, he got into 93 more games at the top minor league level and slashed .225/.347/.366 for a 93 wRC+.

The young infielder is capable of playing second or third base, with tiny amounts of experience at shortstop and left field as well. He also stole 46 bases over 2023-2024 and has four more already this year. That defensive versatility and speed could make him a nice utility player, especially if the bat is coming around. Paternity lists stints are for one to three games, so Grisham should be back with the club in short order.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Yankees Notes: LeMahieu, Outfield, Judge

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It’s been a tough few days on the injury front for Yankees fans. After the club announced yesterday that right-hander Luis Gil is set to undergo an MRI due to shoulder troubles and not long after it was made public that slugger Giancarlo Stanton will begin the season on the injured list due to soreness in both elbows, another potentially key player for the club went down with a potential injury: veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu.

As noted by MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, manager Aaron Boone told reporters this afternoon that LeMahieu “tweaked” a calf muscle during his second at-bat during today’s game, which was LeMahieu’s spring debut. LeMahieu is receiving treatment for the issue, but Boone called the situation “at least a little concerning” given the veteran’s recent injury history. LeMahieu was limited to just 67 games due to a number of injuries last year, including a hip impingement that ultimately ended his season.

It’s a particularly troubling development seeing as LeMahieu was a likely candidate to be the club’s starting third baseman on Opening Day. A recent MLBTR Poll suggested that 27.5% of respondents expected LeMahieu to receive the lion’s share of playing time at third base this year. That was enough to beat out both Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza as the top internal candidate for the job, though a 34% plurality of respondents suggested that the Yankees’ primary solution at the hot corner was likely to be someone not yet in the organization.

Perhaps today’s injury will make that more likely if LeMahieu winds up unable to get back in time for the beginning of the season later this month, though the pickings remain quite slim on the market with part-time veteran Jose Iglesias standing out as the best infield option still available. If the Yankees can’t find an external solution for the hot corner before Opening Day, it seems likely that Cabrera and Peraza will handle the position in a timeshare until LeMahieu is ready to return, though it’s possible a player such as Jorbit Vivas or Pablo Reyes could make a push for the job as well.

Aside from the news regarding LeMahieu, Hoch suggests that the injury to Stanton could lead to a realigned outfield with Trent Grisham joining the lineup in center field, with Cody Bellinger sliding from center to right field and Aaron Judge moving to DH. Such an arrangement would improve the club’s defense overall by adding a plus glove in center field while also avoiding injury risks for Judge, the reigning AL MVP who stands out as the club’s most important player entering the year. Hoch adds that Boone noted that giving Judge occasional partial days off at DH could be valuable early in the season, though Boone was quick to emphasize that he also values Judge’s ability to contribute on defense in right field. On days where Grisham isn’t joining the lineup in center field and pushing a regular to DH, the club’s internal options to fill in for Stanton include youngster Ben Rice and non-roster invitee Dominic Smith.

Sticking with Judge, the MVP spoke to reporters (including Hoch) this afternoon about his desire to get more at-bats under his belt during Spring Training this year. Today was Judge’s first appearance in a Spring Training game of the year, and notably he received just 24 official at-bats in the spring last season. Judge suggested that additional reps before the season begins could help him to prevent a slow start like the one he had last year, where he batted just .197/.331/.393 in his first 149 trips to the plate before turning his season around in early May and hitting a sensational .357/.492/.787 the rest of the way. Obviously, that type of otherworldly production over the majority of the season would be more than enough to make up for another early-season slump, but Judge’s goal of getting something closer to 40 or 50 plate appearances in this spring is an understandable one given his struggles early last year.

Giancarlo Stanton Behind In Camp Due To Elbow Soreness

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Feb. 17: Stanton tells reporters that the pain level he’s currently experiencing is “very high” in both elbows, adding that it’s been three to four weeks since he swung a bat (via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). Both Stanton and Boone compared the issue to tennis elbow, with Stanton noting that there’s some degree of tendon tearing in each elbow that’d be at risk for surgery if he were to “blow it up” by “overdoing” it while dealing with the injury (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). However, that’s not a concern at this time, Stanton emphasized.

Feb. 16: Yankees position players reported to camp today ahead of their first full-squad workout tomorrow, and the injury updates have already begun to creep in. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner) today that both veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton and center fielder Trent Grisham are behind in camp due to injuries. Stanton is suffering from soreness in both elbows, while Grisham is dealing with a hamstring issue. Grisham’s injury appears to be of relatively little concern, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch notes that he’s already resumed baseball activities and is running at near full strength again. Stanton’s issue, however, appears to be more serious. Hoch relays that Boone was noncommittal about Stanton’s timeline when asked if the issue could impact the slugger’s availability for Opening Day.

“I don’t know,” Boone said (as relayed by Hoch). “I’m not going to put any timeline on it. We’re just going to be smart about it.”

Stanton’s health has been tricky for the Yankees to navigate over the years, but the fact that his latest ailment is an upper body issue is worth noting. The 35-year-old has made a number of trips to the injured list over his seven years in a Yankees uniform, but all but one of those IL stints have been due to lower half issues pertaining to his hamstrings, calves, or knees. The lone exception to that was a biceps strain that sidelined him early in the 2019 season, which ultimately cost him six weeks of the regular season.

Losing Stanton to start the year would be a frustrating development for a Yankees lineup that already lost Juan Soto and Gleyber Torres in free agency. While the additions of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to the lineup should be improvements over the difficult seasons Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo had last year, the club is currently set to rely on internal options in the form of Jasson Dominguez, Oswaldo Cabrera, and DJ LeMahieu to fill in the holes in left field and at third base. The loss of Stanton would serve to further thin out the club’s lineup card.

The club’s internal options seem unlikely to offer anything close to the solid .233/.298/.475 (116 wRC+) that Stanton posted in 2024, but outfield prospect Everson Pereira is healthy entering Spring Training after having his 2024 campaign cut short by UCL surgery. Pereira has a solid .287/.365/.530 slash line in 75 career games at the Triple-A level but struggled in a 27-game cup of coffee at the big league level in 2023. Another option could be first baseman/catcher Ben Rice, a bat-first prospect who was called up to fill in for Rizzo at first base last year but has returned to catching over the offseason and figures to compete for the club’s back-up catcher spot behind Austin Wells.

Yankees Expected To Move Aaron Judge Back To Right Field In 2025

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Reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge is currently expected to move back to his longtime position of right field for the 2025 season, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Judge has appeared in right field during more than 75% of his career games in the outfield but played center field almost exclusively in 2024 in order to accommodate the addition of Juan Soto to the club’s lineup. Now that Soto has departed for Queens on a record-breaking deal, however, Judge will be able to return to his old stomping grounds.

“We’re not afraid to run [Judge] out in center like we’ve done, but I think it makes sense to have him over in right,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Monday, as relayed by Hoch. He went on to suggest that sliding Judge back to his natural position offers top outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez a “clear lane” to capture the starting center field job entering Spring Training, though Hoch notes that Cashman added he isn’t currently ready to anoint the 21-year-old as the club’s starter for next season.

Even if the club ultimately opts to send Dominguez back to Triple-A (where he’s hit well but has just 53 total games under his belt) to open the 2025 campaign, the club figures to have number of options they could consider that would keep Judge in right. Perhaps the most obvious internal solution for center outside of Dominguez is Trent Grisham, who the club avoided arbitration with last month by agreeing to a $5MM contract despite the fact that Grisham was strictly used as a bench player by the club after being acquired from the Padres alongside Soto last winter. The 28-year-old appeared in 76 games last year as a late-inning defensive replacement or to fill in for Judge in center field when the slugger had the day off or was DH’ing for the day, but received just 209 plate appearances total despite being an everyday player in San Diego in each of the previous four seasons.

Grisham’s .190/.290/.385 slash line was good for a decent 91 wRC+, and a .217 BABIP that was well below his career norms may suggest room for positive regression going forward. That decent bat combined with an elite glove at a premium position makes Grisham a plausible candidate for a starting role, and Hoch suggests the club could look for a right-handed center fielder to pair with Grisham at the position this winter. Grisham and Dominguez aren’t the only internal options the club has in center, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. has two seasons’ worth of experience at the position from his time in Miami. With that said, Hoch did not mention Chisholm as even a theoretical candidate for the position headed into 2025, and all signs point to the Yankees planning to use the 26-year-old sparkplug at either second or third base next year.

Turning back to Grisham, the extremely thin market for center fielders this winter could pose an obstacle to any plans of platooning him in center as the Yankees would likely be limited to light-hitting bench players with impressive defense like Harrison Bader, Michael A. Taylor, and Cristian Pache. One other potential addition the Yankees could make to their outfield mix who is capable of playing center would be Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger. The Yankees are known to have at least checked in on the 2019 NL MVP this winter, and Hoch reiterates that the club is “intrigued” by 29-year-old. Bellinger is coming off a down season in Chicago where he hit a solid but unspectacular .266/.325/.426 (109 wRC+) in 130 games. While Bellinger’s 7.9% walk rate was solid and his 15.6% strikeout rate was genuinely impressive, he mustered only 18 home runs with the Cubs this year after clubbing 26 the year prior.

That’s still solid production, but a combination of Bellinger’s hefty $27.5MM salary for 2025 and the Cubs’ deep mix of outfield options has led the club to shop him quite aggressively this winter. According to Hoch, the Yankees’ interest in Bellinger stems at least in part from his positional versatility. Bellinger is a roughly average defensive center fielder at this stage of his career, offering less upside with the glove than a player like Grisham or even Dominguez but more than capable of handling the position on a regular basis if needed. That defense goes from average to well above average when Bellinger is parked in either outfield corner, and he’s also capable of handling first base with nearly 2500 career innings in the majors at the position. Judge stands as the only player locked into everyday reps in the club’s outfield mix next year with Soto now out of the picture, and given the club’s hole at first base it’s easy to see how acquiring a player like Bellinger could offer them plenty of flexibility as they look to retool their roster with a number of possible targets for both the infield and outfield on the table.

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