The Angels didn’t exactly make a splash when they brought in Vaughn Grissom over the winter, but the move is looking better by the day.
Los Angeles landed Grissom from the Boston Red Sox for 2025 eighth-round pick Isaiah Jackson, and at the time, there wasn’t much reason to expect much. Grissom had once been a notable prospect with the Atlanta Braves before they dealt him to Boston in December of 2023 as part of the Chris Sale trade.
Sale went on to win the 2024 NL Cy Young, while Grissom’s time in Boston was derailed by injuries and an illness. He got into just 31 big league games there and hit .190/.246/.219.
Boston kept Grissom in Triple-A all of 2025, even after he stayed healthy. He put together a solid year there, batting .270/.342/.441 with 13 home runs, but the Red Sox never brought him back up. That clearly didn’t sit well with him.
“I think I would probably attribute that to the computer, you know what I mean?” Grissom said.
“You have to watch the game and I think I’m damn near the same player, it’s just the opportunity, these people believe in me and in Boston there was no belief in the player. It is what it is, some people watch the game, some people go on the computer.”
“Yeah, I don’t know, maybe I don’t look the best on paper but you watch enough and you see what the player is bringing,” Grissom continued.
The Angels, meanwhile, have gotten exactly what they hoped for and maybe a little more. Grissom hasn’t turned into a star, but he has been steady and useful, the kind of player a team can move around without losing much.
In 80 games this season, he’s hitting .249/.309/.383 with seven homers. He’s played 35 games at second base and has also appeared in 23 games at both third base and first base.
That versatility has mattered for a Los Angeles club that has needed help wherever it could find it, whether because of injuries, poor performance, or something else. Grissom has been able to step in and provide at least average production.
He’s also been part of a group, along with Wade Meckler, that the Angels have leaned on for the little things. For a team that usually seems to strike out instead of moving a runner over and often makes rough defensive mistakes, that has been a welcome change.
And there may still be more in there. Grissom is only 25, still carries that top-prospect background, and the Angels control him for the foreseeable future. If feeling wanted matters, he appears to have found the right place.
Boston, on the other hand, still has middle-infield issues. The Red Sox traded for Curtis Mead, who had a similar path before his breakout this year, and then Mead broke his wrist.
They also traded away Marcelo Mayer. In that light, letting Grissom go looks increasingly questionable.
What did Boston get back? Jackson, a 22-year-old outfielder who struck out 35.1% of the time last season and has a 102 wRC+ in High-A.
That was the return for Chris Sale. For the Angels, the gamble at least looks like it delivered a credible utility infielder with room to grow.
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