New York Yankees' Offseason Blunder Could Cost Them a Superstar
The New York Yankees made a major offseason mistake that may have cost them a superstar this season.
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New York Yankees are heading into 2026 with an identical starting lineup to the one they had the year prior, outside of Anthony Volpe being sidelined while recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Yankees definitely have one of the best offenses in baseball. They led the league in home runs last season, and that was with Giancarlo Stanton missing half the year.
Stanton will be starting 2026 this time around, and New York still boasts the league's most dominant slugger in Aaron Judge.
But the Yankees made a rather significant mistake during the offseason that could cost them an opportunity to add a superstar to their lineup this year. That mistake was extending a $22 million qualifying offer to Trent Grisham.
Grisham was expected to have a rather robust free-agent market after a breakout 2025 campaign that saw him smash 34 home runs while logging an .811 OPS, but instead, he accepted New York's one-year QO to remain in the Bronx.
Brian Cashman can say whatever he wants about how glad he is to have Grisham back in the fold, but I still doubt that Cashman was anticipating that Grisham would be back for 2026.
Surely, Cashman thought Grisham would land a lucrative multi-year deal elsewhere, and by tendering him a qualifying offer, the Yanks would have stood to reap a compensatory draft pick.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham. Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Instead, Grisham re-upped, and now, Spencer Jones is blocked as a result.
Jones has been an offensive dynamo in Spring Training, homering three times thus far while also displaying impressive patience at the plate.
The hulking left-handed hitter turns 25 years old in May and is still yet to make his big-league debut, so the clock is ticking for the highly-touted outfielder who has actually fallen off top-100 prospect lists.
That's primarily because Jones' strikeout issue remains a sticking point, and let's be honest: it's really difficult to label a guy who turns 25 in two months a "prospect."
That being said, there is no question that Jones has flashed superstar talent. Not only does he boast prodigious power, but he is a terrific outfielder with tremendous speed on the basepaths.
In spite of being 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, Jones stolen 29 bases in the minor leagues last season, and he swiped 43 bags back in 2023.
If Grisham had signed elsewhere over the winter, the Yankees would surely be rolling out the red carpet for Jones to start in center field. But instead, Jones will almost certainly begin 2026 in Triple-A because of Grisham.
New York won't admit it made a blunder when it comes to Grisham, but the fact of the matter is that the Yankees' decision to pitch him the QO could cost them the opportunity to see Jones, at least early on this season.
