Just two hours before the 40-man roster deadline, free agent outfielder Trent Grisham agreed to a $22 million qualifying offer to stay with the New York Yankees, securing one piece of their outfield for 2026.

Grisham was expected to turn down the deal in favor of a larger, multi-year deal with another team, but decided to test his talents once again in New York. Despite a strong free agent market, the team is unlikely to do much better than two reunions in the outfield, and will almost certainly continue their pursuit of free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger.

Conflicting Opinions on What Happens Now

The Yankees are still expected to shop for another outfielder (with Bellinger and Kyle Tucker considered their favorites), one more starter, an infielder to strengthen weak points at the infield and possibly a right-handed hitting catcher and/or a right-handed hitting first baseman. This qualifying offer is not the most expensive contract they might chase this offseason at all, but some suspect that it hinders their buying power when going after big-name free agents like Bellinger, Tucker, and Tatsuya Imai.

“If you are grossly overpaying for a player, that means that’s money you can’t spend somewhere else. It’s not an unlimited budget,” long-time Yankees commentator Michael Kay recently said on the Michael Kay Show. “So there is such a thing as a bad one-year contract if it inhibits you from doing other things that said year.”

In an instant reaction on Talkin’ Yanks, Jomboy commented something similar, wincing at the thought of Grisham accepting the QO.

“This hamstrings the Yankees,” Jomboy said. “If Hal really wants to stay around the $300/$310 million mark, he’s going to be their center fielder and leadoff guy, which is good if he can do what he did last year but it kind of feels like an outlier season to just bank on it happening again. Does this hinder Belli? A starter? I don’t think you can pay Trent $20 million, Belli what he’s going to get, a starter, infielder, so, wow. Okay. I don’t know if you really wanted him to accept.”

Last week, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman posited that the Yankees expected Grisham to turn the offer down, as circuitously evidenced by the fact that they offered it to him.

“The Yankees expect Trent Grisham to decline, too,” Heyman wrote. “Which is partly why they offered it, I expected.”

On the other hand, the New York Post’s Greg Joyce responded to the Grisham news by saying that general manager Brian Cashman, in the recent GM meetings, stated that the Grisham offer would not impact their pursuit of Bellinger, at least.

“Brian Cashman indicated last week this would not impact the Yankees’ pursuit of Cody Bellinger,” Joyce wrote.

Grisham had the strongest season of his career so far with the 2025 Yankees, batting .235/ .348/ .464 with a .812 OPS, 34 home runs and 74 RBIs. It was his second season in New York, one that earned him the nickname, “The Big Sleep” for his calm demeanor and unexpected ability to hit homers. If Grisham can repeat his performance in 2026, the Yankees will be in good shape.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!