Yankees Should Be Cautious in Keeping Trent Grisham
Trent Grisham had an unbelievable year for the New York Yankees. He was a throw-in for the Michael King and Juan Soto swap a year earlier, and didn't get much time in the field for his first year in the Bronx. Instead, manager Aaron Boone opted to pencil in Alex Verdugo until the literal wheels fell off on the season, and he was the final out of the World Series.
Grisham took full advantage of his playing time this year, without Verdugo standing in his way on the outfield depth chart. He had a career high in homers, RBI, walks, and WAR by both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference, and, for the first time in his career, had an OPS north of .800 since the pandemic-shortened season. It was his highest in a full season since his .740 OPS in 2021.
The $22 Million Question
With the conclusion of the 2025 World Series, Grisham is one of the questions the Yankees have. Is it worth retaining their breakout slugger? For NorthJersey.com, Pete Caldera named Grisham as one of his seven free agent candidates the team should make a run at.
"Here's the $22 million question," Caldera wrote, referencing the price of this off-season's qualifying offer. "As their own free agent, do the Yankees extend Grisham, 29, that qualifying offer? And would he accept it, playing at a high one-year salary instead of shopping for a multi-year deal elsewhere? Bellinger isn't subject to a QO, having previously received one. By extending it to Grisham, the Yanks have a safety net at center field if he accepts."
The qualifying offer may deter teams from committing to Grisham if the Yankees decide to use it on him. There's a lot of risk with signing an outfielder with his profile to a multi-year deal.
For one, at the age of 29 and after 2,831 plate appearances in the big leagues, Grisham finally had his breakout year. It will likely give pause to any GM considering an acquisition of him, wondering whether it's worth handing over the money and years to a player who has only done this once, while also losing a draft pick in the process.
The positive of Grisham, as far as his bat is concerned, is that the numbers under the hood do tell the story of a player who didn't have a fluke year. A 91.1 Average Exit Velocity and 14.2% barrel rate are both career highs.
The downside to Grisham is that his defense lagged statistically. Regarded as one of the best center fielders while with the San Diego Padres, Grisham's -11 DRS and -3 OAA are both career lows.
Proceed With Caution
The Yankees' decision to bring Grisham back will be contingent on his acceptance of the qualifying offer, or, if teams are cautious about making a financial commitment to him, fearing a return to the mean and believing this season was an outlier, he could circle back to New York and find a deal that works for both parties.
What the Yankees shouldn't do is go into a bidding war for Grisham if a team is willing to meet his needs in the open market. Not only should they be cautious that 2025 is a one-hit-wonder type of year for their former center fielder, but those defensive metrics are ugly. If his bat isn't to par, and his defensive metrics continue to sink, they will be stuck with a player who brings little to both sides of the ball for multiple years. They just went through this with DJ LeMahieu.
In the case of Grisham, the Yankees should display patience and see how his market turns out. It will be interesting to see what type of offers are available to him after the year he had.
Packers Tucker Kraft Knee Injury a Potentially Devastating Blow in Week 9
Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 02: Tucker Kraft #85 of the Green Bay Packers is helped off the field with an injury in the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers in the game at Lambeau Field on November 02, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
The Packers‘ red zone fumble from rookie receiver Savion Williams was not a highlight, nor were the two other red-zone drives that yielded field goals, and neither was the missed field from Brandon McManus or the deep interception by Jordan Love in the third quarter. So much went wrong over the first three quarters of the Packers’ Week 9 showdown with the Panthers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, but the biggest source of angst was what happened off the field.
Namely, the angst came as tight end Tucker Kraft was carted off to the locker room after a knee injury on the opening drive. The Packers can withstand a poor effort against a game Panthers bunch, but a long-term injury to their best offensive playmaker this season is an especially damaging development.
Kraft left the game after an awkward collision with offensive lineman Sean Rhyan on a 15-yard run by Josh Jacobs with 12:32 to go in the third quarter. Kraft had two catches for 20 yards on the day.
Tucker Kraft Subject of Major Concern
There will be testing and further diagnosis yet to come for Kraft, but the early indications weren’t very positive. While doctors who diagnose injuries off replays are obviously limited in their available information, the consensus appeared to be that the best outcome for Kraft is an MCL injury that could see him return relatively soon.
Doctor of physical therapy Jeff Mueller wrote on Twitter/X, “Definite concern on Right MCL sprain. Hoping the angle of impact avoided trauma to his ACL. I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t lead to some missed time.”
Another DPT, Tom Christ, wrote much the same: “His teammate accidentally kicks the outside of his right knee at the exact same time his foot plants and knee is fully extended creating a significant valgus force. Certainly concern for MCL injury, ACL possible too. Let’s hope not though.”
Packers Could Look to Luke Musgrave
Kraft has been a revelation in this, his third NFL season, as he entered the game with 30 catches and 469 yards on the season, plus six touchdowns. He rates No. 3 among tight end in yardage and No. 2 in touchdowns this season. He is ranked the No. 2 tight end among players with at least 250 snaps this season at Pro Football Focus, behind Sam LaPorta of Detroit.
The Packers do have 2023 second-round pick Luke Musgrave on the roster, though he has yet to live up to his billing entering the league and has just six catches for 54 yards this season.
