The $17 Million Question: How Declining Trent Grisham’s $22M Option Unlocks the Yankees’ Entire Offseason Plan.vc
(NEW YORK) — The New York Yankees’ offseason strategy isn’t waiting for the first big free agent to sign. It’s hanging on a $22 million “decision” that is, in reality, the easiest decision the front office will make all winter: the 2026 mutual option for outfielder Trent Grisham.
How this decision is handled—or rather, the financial domino it topples—is set to “dramatically alter” the team’s entire free-agent blueprint.
The “Decision” That’s Already Made
Let’s be blunt: Trent Grisham will not be a New York Yankee in 2026 for $22 million.
After a 2025 season where the 29-year-old served as a defense-first fourth outfielder, hitting just .220 with 8 home runs, there is zero organizational appetite for paying him like a superstar.
The $22 million mutual option will be declined by the Yankees. Grisham will be paid his $5 million buyout, and the team will gain what it truly covets: $17 million in payroll flexibility.
How $17 Million “Dramatically Alters” the Plan
That $17 million is not just saved money; it’s re-allocated ammunition.
For a Yankees team operating near the highest luxury tax threshold, $17 million is the difference between window-shopping and making a defining move. This is how that “dramatic alteration” takes shape:
- Funding the “Ace” Pursuit: The Yankees’ primary goal is a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. That $17 million is essentially the entire first-year salary for a major free-agent arm. It turns a “hope” into a “budget.”
- Solving the Corner Infield: With uncertainty at both first and third base, the newly freed-up cash allows Brian Cashman to aggressively pursue a “Plan A” bat rather than settling for a “Plan C” platoon player.
- Outbidding Rivals: In the AL East arms race, payroll flexibility is leverage. This move allows the Yankees to absorb a larger contract or take on salary in a trade that their rivals, like the Red Sox or Blue Jays, may not be able to match.
What Comes Next
The “decision” on Trent Grisham is a formality. He will accept his $5 million buyout and become a free agent, where he will likely find a starting job on a multi-year deal elsewhere, albeit for significantly less than $22 million per year.
The real story is the one that starts the moment that $17 million hits the books. The Yankees’ offseason doesn’t begin when free agency opens; it begins the second they decline Trent Grisham’s option.
