Trent Grisham, OF

Position: OF B/T: L/L
Player Data: Age: 29 (11/1/1996)
2025 Traditional Stats: 581 PA, .235/.348/.464/.811, 112 H, 34 HR, 74 RBI
2025 Advanced Stats: 129 wRC+, 23.6% K%, 14.1% BB%, .253 BABiP, .377 xwOBA, 3.2 fWAR, 3.5 bWAR, -11 DRS, -3 OAA

Rundown

Not normally known for his bat, Trent Grisham had by far the best offensive season of his career in 2025. Serving as the Yankees’ everyday lead-off hitter, he set career-highs in home runs, walks, RBIs, runs scored, OPS, OPS+, wRC+, fWAR, bWAR, and ISO. Under the hood, his stats looked even better – his .257 xBA, .509 xSLG, and .377 xwOBA all exceeded his actual marks by over 20 points. Grisham did this while cutting his strikeout rate from 27.3% to 23.6% and increasing his walk rate from 10.5% to a career-best 14.5%.

Grisham’s average bat speed was still well below league average at 71 miles per hour (just the 32nd percentile on Baseball Savant), but that’s the highest mark he’s recorded since that started getting tracked in 2023.

Grisham did much of his damage against fastballs, clubbing 21 of his 34 home runs and slugging .527 with a .577 xSLG against heaters. However, as has been the case for most of his career, Grisham struggled badly against breaking pitches. He batted just .163 with a .295 xSLG and a 28.1% whiff rate against breakers. His numbers weren’t much better against offspeed pitches, batting .216 against them, though he did slug eight homers and have a solid .489 SLG against them. Situationally, Grisham batted just .208 with men in scoring position, but he was dynamite with the bases loaded, going 4-for-7 with three grand slams. Unfortunately for Grisham and the Yankees, he couldn’t carry over the magic from the regular season into October as he went just 4-for-29 with 10 strikeouts and didn’t drive in any runs in the playoffs.

A two-time Gold Glove winner, Grisham saw his defense take a noticeable step back in 2025. He graded as a below-average defender by both defensive runs saved (negative-11) and outs above average (negative-3) for the first time in his career. This could be attributed to his decline in average sprint speed, which regressed to a career-worst 26.7 feet per second. Still, Grisham appeared in 140 games in center field and didn’t play another position all year, not even designated hitter.

Contract

Grisham will receive a substantial pay raise, following his $5 million earnings in 2025. The Yankees extended him a qualifying offer ($22.025 million) for 2026, but he’s expected to decline it. MLB Trade Rumors predicts Grisham will sign a four-year deal worth $66 million. Entering his age-29 season, Grisham will likely have a robust market, but teams may be wary of his glove’s regression and uncertain whether he can replicate his performance at the plate in 2026.

Recommendation: Stay Away

David Stearns said in his most recent press conference that Carson Benge will have a chance to crack the Mets’ Opening Day roster. If the Mets want insurance in case Benge isn’t ready or Tyrone Taylor‘s bat isn’t enough for the lineup, they should be looking for a stopgap rather than trying to sign a center fielder to a multi-year deal. With Grisham expected to command a longer-term contract, it makes very little sense for the Mets to sign him. At most, Benge will be in the majors by the middle of the season, and signing Grisham would block him in center field.