How Trent Grisham decision ruined Yankees offseason, put New York in tough trade bind

Billy Heyen

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How Trent Grisham decision ruined Yankees offseason, put New York in tough trade bind image

The New York Yankees couldn't have expected Trent Grisham to accept his qualifying offer.

Most veterans who become eligible for the QO, which places draft pick compensation on them as they head into free agency, don't take it. It's just for one year, and they want multiple years on a free agent contract.

Grisham, though, accepted it, and it threw the rest of the Yankees' offseason into a bit of a bind.

It didn't stop them from re-signing Cody Bellinger, which they did on Wednesday. They had to try and bring him back. He was too good in the Bronx not to.

But the Grisham decision is now going to force the Yanks' hand.

If he had just gone to free agency, the Yankees likely would've let him go. They'd have Bellinger to play center, Aaron Judge in right and Jasson Dominguez in left. Spencer Jones would be waiting in the wings.

Now, though, Jones and Dominguez have nowhere to go, assuming Bellinger goes to left with Grisham in center.

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Giancarlo Stanton is DH-only, so he takes up that spot.

And so instead of a logical lineup, the Yankees now have both Dominguez and Jones without paths to regular MLB at bats.

It wouldn't be shocking to see one of them traded.

And it's all because of Grisham. No one can blame him for taking a guaranteed $22 million for the season ahead.

But if the Yankees had expected that, they may have approached things differently rather than creating this obnoxious logjam. 

A trade of Dominguez or Jones could help or hurt the Yankees in the long run. It remains to be seen.

It probably wouldn't even be a discussion, though, if Grisham had declined his qualifying offer like most players do.

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Staff Writer