MLB News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Sep 17, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham (12) flies out against the Minnesota Twins during the sixth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Pirates Named Fit for Yankees Outfielder

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 4:01 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates must add offense to their lineup in 2026 and one New York Yankees free agent could provide them with that next season.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic named Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham as the 24th best free agent amongst the top 50 he ranked. He also named teams that would serve as good fits for him, with the Yankees first, the Pirates in second, then the Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels.

Trent Grisham's MLB Career so Far

The Milwaukee Brewers took Grisham with the 15th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Richland High School in Richland Hills, Texas, near Fort Worth.

Grisham made it up to the MLB on Aug. 1, 2019 and played in 51 games for the Brewers, before they traded him to the San Diego Padres on Nov. 27, 2019.

He then spent the next four seasons with the Padres, 2020-23, slashing .214/.315/.381 for an OPS of .695 in 496 games with a 10.1 WAR, plus 342 hits, 83 doubles, nine triples, 55 home runs, 191 RBIs, 45 stolen bases on 55 attempts and 217 walks to 487 strikeouts.

His best seasons with San Diego came in 2020 and 2021, where he hit .252 and .242 with 25 home runs in 191 games, but then he hit below .200 the following two seasons, with 30 home runs in 305 games.

The Padres then traded Grisham along with star Juan Soto to the Yankees on Dec. 6, 2023 and he spent his past two seasons there.

He struggled in his first season in New York in 2024, slashing .190/.290/.385 for an OPS of .675 in 76 games, which included just two hits in April and no hits in May for two hits in 39 at-bats.

Grisham had his best season from the plate in 2025, slashing .235/.348/.464 for an OPS of .812, with his on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS all career-highs. He also had 116 hits, 87 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple, 34 home runs, 74 RBIs and 82 walks to 137 strikeouts.

Those 34 home runs, by far the most of his career, ranked tied for 15th in the MLB and the sixth most for an outfielder this season.

Grisham is also a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, doing so twice with the Padres in 2020 and 2022.

Why the Pirates Would Benefit From Signing Trent Grisham

The Pirates were one of the worst hitting teams in baseball last season, with both the lowest slugging percentage (.350) and OPS (.655), the third lowest batting average (.231) and the eighth lowest on-base percentage (.305) in the MLB.

Pittsburgh also had little power, hitting just 117 home runs in 2025, the least in baseball and 31 home runs next than the second-least team in the St. Louis Cardinals at 148 home runs.

They also had the least RBIs (561) and runs scored (583), third least hits (1,244) and the seventh most strikeouts (1,422). The Rockies, who finished with the worst record in the MLB at 43-119, had more RBIs and runs scored than them.

Grisham could also give the Pirates a chance to make Oneil Cruz a designated hitter, after he spent his first full season in center field.

Cruz, who hit a team-high 20 home runs, would have time to fully focus on hitting and becoming the slugger that the Pirates envision him as.

The Pirates could also move Grisham into left field, although, he hasn't played there since 2019, but with his defense, that may make the most sense if they want Cruz as an every day center fielder.

Will the Pirates Sign Grisham?

Bowden has Grisham getting around a two-year, $30 million deal, or $15 milllion per season. Spotrac has his market value at $12.1 million per season over a four year deal that would total $48.4 million.

The Pirates have notoriously had some of the lowest payrolls in baseball under owner Bob Nutting, who heads into his 20th season at the helm of the franchise.

They haven't gotten close to a $100 million Opening Day payroll since 2016 and have only ranked outside of the bottom five Opening Day payrolls for three seasons, 2015-17.

Pittsburgh hasn't signed a free agent position player to a multi-year deal since John Jaso, who signed a two-year, $8 million deal on Dec. 23, 2015, and the last free agent to a multi-year deal since right-handed starting pitcher Iván Nova, who signed a three-year, $26 million deal on Dec. 27, 2016.

That $15 million deal would make Grisham the highest paid Pirates position player, ahead of Bryan Reynolds, who will make $14.25 million in 2026, and the second highest-paid player on the team behind right-handed starting pitcher Mitch Keller, who will make $16.9 million next season.

The Pirates could move Keller and use that money to sign Grisham, or even use the money they saved on their payroll from trading third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes and right-handed relief pitcher David Bednar at the trade deadline.

Pittsburgh needs offense, but history suggests they won't splurge, or even spend reasonably on a free agent.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: