If the Yankees add an outfielder this offseason, the path seems pretty clear: it probably won’t come through free agency, and it almost certainly needs to be a center fielder if they want the fit to make sense. The problem is that the market is thin enough that even the best names on it don’t exactly scream answer.
Spotrac’s top five outfield free agents are George Springer, Trent Grisham, Ian Happ, Joc Pederson, and Seiya Suzuki. Suzuki might be the most appealing name in that group, but that still lands him in the “good, not great” bucket. That says as much about the class as it does about him.
That leaves the Yankees in a strange spot. If they can’t land a real upgrade in center, the safer move may be to stick with the familiar option. In this case, that means Grisham.
The idea wouldn’t be new for this franchise. In the late 2010s, the Yankees kept circling back to CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner on one-year deals, buying themselves time before eventually finding another answer. A Grisham return could function the same way: a temporary bridge while they wait for something better to open up at the trade deadline.
But that would also be a frustrating outcome, because Grisham’s 2025 season went the wrong direction on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he dropped from more than 30 home runs and a 128 wRC+ in 2025 to a 98 wRC+, just below league average.
Defensively, the slide was just as sharp. The usual gold-glove reputation didn’t hold up to the numbers, with Grisham finishing at -6 Outs Above Average and -8 Defensive Runs Saved.
The player who used to get to nearly everything started looking like a guy wearing cement boots as the season wore on.
There’s only one way a Grisham reunion really works: move him to a corner spot. Right field would be the cleaner choice, especially with Cody Bellinger having been awesome in left field.
That right-field setup probably should have been something the Yankees explored this year, with Spencer Jones handling center. Jones had his own problems out there, but they were more mechanical than physical.
He could still run balls down. Grisham, at least by the end, couldn’t.
Michael Kay may be right that Hal Steinbrenner is furious about how feeble the Yankees looked after the ALDS, but even if that’s true, it’s still hard to picture Steinbrenner writing a check for someone like Suzuki. The organization also hasn’t exactly had a run of success with international free agents from Japan, so even a name like Teruaki Sato does not seem like a likely path.
This front office has shown a clear preference for going internal or sticking with players it already knows instead of shopping in the mid-tier free-agent aisle. Jazz Chisholm Jr. fits that kind of middle-ground territory, too.
So if the Yankees do bring someone back, Grisham feels like the most likely candidate. If that happens, the hope is simple: keep him out of center field. He no longer looks like the guy for that job.
In Other News...
Yankees Just Lost A Key Coach In A Troubling Development Blow
The Yankees are losing one of the more quietly important figures in their development pipeline, as the Astros have hired Spencer Medick away from Triple-A to become their new director of pitching. Medick had been in the organization since 2022 and spent time working with Cam Schlittler during the right-handers rise through the minors, a stretch that helped shape one of the most encouraging young pitching stories in the system.
Schlittlers 2026 season only sharpened the interest around that work, finishing with a 1.95 ERA, the lowest qualifying mark for the Yankees since 1978. So while the move is being made at the staff level rather than on the major league roster, it still lands as a meaningful development loss for a club that has leaned heavily on continuity in its pitching instruction. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Boone Just Made Jazz Chisholms Yankees Future Feel Clear
Jazz Chisholm Jr.s first full run in pinstripes never quite settled into the kind of season the Yankees were hoping for, and it ended with more questions than answers. His uneven 2026 performance was already under the microscope before a costly throwing error in the ALDS only added to the scrutiny, making the fall feel even steeper for a player brought in to bring energy and production.
Then Aaron Boone said the quiet part out loud. The Yankees manager made it clear that Chisholms approach has rubbed him the wrong way, pointing specifically to the kind of behavior that can grate inside a clubhouse, and the comments only sharpened the sense that Chisholm may not be part of the teams long-term plans. For a player whose talent still makes him intriguing, the issue now is whether the Yankees see enough fit beyond the flashes to keep the relationship going. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fifth Starter Battle Comes Down To Upside Or Reliability
The Yankees have plenty to like at the top of their rotation, with recent All-Stars like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodn and Max Fried headlining a group that also includes Cam Schlittler. The question now is less about star power than about how to round out the back end, where the fifth-starter spot has turned into a familiar kind of camp debate: do the Yankees lean into upside, or do they choose the arm they trust most to take the ball and keep them in games?
Ryan Weathers looked like a real candidate after a solid 2026 season, but the forearm injury he suffered late in the year complicates his case. Will Warren, meanwhile, brings the kind of durability teams value in April and beyond, having topped 150 innings in each of the past two seasons, even if his command can wander at times. For a club built to expect excellence from the front of the rotation, the final choice may come down to whether it wants the ceiling of a comeback candidate or the steadier profile of a workhorse who does not always have perfect feel. [Read more 🡒]