The Padres may end up shopping for help in the outfield this winter, and one familiar name has already surfaced in the conversation.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter named San Diego as one of the top landing spots for Trent Grisham, the two-time Gold Glove outfielder who is heading into free agency after his run with the Yankees. Grisham, 29, is coming off a season in which he hit .211/.308/.395 with 18 home runs and a 95 OPS+.
Reuter pointed to the Padres’ issues in left field and the way the club pieced things together late in the year. “The Padres had a revolving door in left field for much of the season before a platoon of Dustin Harris (100 PA, 120 OPS+, 0.9 WAR) and Samad Taylor (175 PA, 124 OPS+, 0.8 WAR) proved to be surprisingly productive.
"They could run it back with that tandem, but [Trent] Grisham would provide a more established alternative, and San Diego is plenty familiar with his game," Reuter wrote.
Grisham’s connection to San Diego runs both ways. He was part of the trade that sent Juan Soto to New York in 2024, and he previously played for the Padres from 2020-23. During that stretch, he hit 55 home runs with a .695 OPS in 496 games.
He has spent the last three seasons in the Bronx and set a career high with 34 home runs in 2025. Still, his defensive profile has shifted, and he finished 2026 with -5 outs above average in center field.
For now, the idea of a reunion remains just that, but the familiarity between Grisham and the Padres makes this a name worth watching once free agency opens.
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