Still reeling from Trent Grisham accepting the qualifying offer from the New York Yankees? You’re not alone. At its surface, it didn’t make much sense. If you squint, though, there’s a pretty solid pathway forward.
But what if there’s more to the story? What if the Yankees knew what they were doing all along, and were using the deal to set up their next move? According to Jon Heyman, the higher-ups knew there was a good chance Grisham would accept the offer.
That means there’s another move up their sleeve. Or it means they’re incompetent. Let’s go with the former. Reading the tea leaves, it would seem a big trade could be on the horizon.
The Yankees likely knew Trent Grisham would accept the qualifying offer, and therefore could be setting themselves up for a big trade
If the debate were Grisham or Cody Bellinger, choosing Grisham means Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones have no place on the 2026 roster. That would seem to jive with Brian Cashman’s comments hinting that the pair might be backup plans, rather than focal points of the 2026 roster.
As we all know, the Yankees’ lineup is left-handed heavy, though reuniting with Bellinger would have alleviated that thanks to his reverse splits and .353 average in 2025 against southpaws. Grisham offers no such luxury, and while it’s entirely possible that the Yankees could still bring Bellinger back to play left field, that would leave Dominguez and Jones in no-man’s land.
However, that might be exactly where the Yankees want them. Both youngsters still have a ton of potential, and if put together in a package with one of the impressive young arms in the Yankees’ pipeline, they could be used to facilitate a blockbuster.
The Yankees could go a handful of different ways here. The club needs help in the starting rotation, and they could decide that the trade market, with names like Freddy Peralta, Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, and others, is more attractive than the free-agent options.
They could follow in the New York Mets’ footsteps and extract Corey Seager from the cash-strapped Texas Rangers.
Or, they could solve their outfield dilemma by trading for San Diego Padres’ star Fernando Tatis Jr. The Padres insist he’s not available, but with ownership turmoil and numerous other holes to fill, do you really expect them to shoot themselves in the foot and kill their leverage by saying they have to trade him?
Are these likely scenarios? Not necessarily. But there’s something here. The Yankees wouldn’t extend the offer to Grisham unless they thought there was a good chance he’d accept it. They also had to know that if he did, it would put their young outfielders in a tough position. That means the other shoe has yet to drop, and when it does, it could involve Dominguez, Jones, or both, and bring a massive fish to the Bronx via trade.