General view of a Texas Rangers hat, glove, and glasses prior to a spring training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Rangers Should Avoid Buying High on Gold Glove Free-Agent Outfielder

Originally posted on Texas Rangers on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Oct 26, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The mandate is clear for the Texas Rangers — cheaper and younger. So how do free agents fit into that?

President of baseball operations Chris Young has said he wants the team to remain competitive, even as it won’t approach the competitive balance tax from a payroll perspective in 2026. Still, there are needs on this team, ones that are better addressed through free agency.

Recently, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand ranked the Top 30 free agents in baseball going into the offseason and then attached teams that would be good fits. He deemed the Rangers a good fit for free-agent outfielder Trent Grisham, last of the New York Yankees.

His profile suggests he’s a player for the Rangers to avoid this offseason.

Why Rangers Should Avoid Trent Grishman

Grisham — a player the Yankees acquired along with Juan Soto before the 2024 season — was a beast offensively for New York. He slashed .235/.348/.464 with an .811 OPS, including 34 home runs and 74 RBI. Those are great numbers. But those must be contrasted with the rest of Grisham’s career for context.

Grisham had a career season. In fact, it was a career season by a wide margin. Before 2025 he had never hit more than 17 home runs in a season, which was in 2022 with the San Diego Padres. His career high for RBI was 62 in 2021. From 2022-24 his bat was awful. He slashed .196/.308/.361 across those three seasons with a 2.2 bWAR, 22 home runs and 81 RBI.

Grisham’s explosion screams potential bust. Yet, Feinsand has him ranked as the No. 13 free agent on the market. Among outfielders, Kyle Tucker (No. 1), Kyle Schwarber (No. 3) and Cody Bellinger (No. 5) are ahead of him. All three have excellent track records without the huge career year that makes Grisham risky.

Yes, he’s won two Gold Gloves and that’s worthy of mention. But the Rangers already have two Gold Glove finalists in the outfield in Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia, the latter of which has a Gold Glove. Evan Carter, when healthy, is a plus defender. The Rangers also have depth in the outfield in both the Majors and the minors to overcome injuries and provide solid defense.

What Texas needs is offense after finishing the season with one of the worst batting averages in baseball. Spending on a player like Grisham means the Rangers believe he can come close to duplicating what he did in 2025, even though here is no evidence to support it.

It feels like a move the Rangers should avoid, and their finances may make that nothing more than a nice hot stove debate. But, in reality, Grisham is a player Texas should steer clear of in free agency.

This article first appeared on Texas Rangers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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