The duo of Bellinger and Grisham combined for 63 homers and 8.1 WAR (per FanGraphs) in 2025, leaving New York with some major questions to address on that front in the weeks and months ahead.
They could also extend a qualifying offer to Grisham before Thursday’s deadline, allowing them to retain him for $22.025 million next year — a reasonable salary for a center fielder coming off a 34-homer season — or position the club to receive Draft compensation if he were to sign elsewhere. Although the Yankees might be hesitant to risk offering that much to a player who hit .191 with a .651 OPS from 2022-24, let’s assume that they’ll ultimately do so, and that Grisham will accept.
If Grisham does indeed return, here’s how the Yankees could address the rest of their outfield going into 2026, ranked from most likely to least likely.
Bellinger has already shown how perfectly his skill set aligns with the Yankees’ roster. His ability to play center field provides a crucial level of defensive flexibility, and his left-handed swing is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch. (His 2025 home run spray chart, included below, is proof of that.) He also hardly ever strikes out, a welcome contrast for a Yankees lineup that features a lot of swing and miss.
With all of that in mind, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Bronx Bombers prioritize re-signing the 30-year-old Bellinger this offseason.
2. Work the trade market again
The outfield trade market has served the Yankees well in each of the past two offseasons, with New York acquiring Juan Soto (and Grisham) from the Padres in December 2023 before swinging a trade with the Cubs to land Bellinger last year.
3. Add a right-handed bat in free agency
Given that Grisham and Jones bat left-handed and Domínguez has struggled against lefties (.530 career OPS) despite being a switch-hitter, the Yankees could look to sign one of those players as a complementary piece if they don’t end up reeling in a bigger name. This route would give the Yanks some measure of insurance while still leaving the door open for Domínguez and/or Jones to become regular contributors.
That said, there are also reasons to believe that the Yankees won’t be at the forefront of the Tucker sweepstakes, especially when Bellinger is out there as a lower-cost alternative who offers more flexibility on defense. The club has Judge entrenched in right field and signed for six more seasons at $40 million per year, and Tucker doesn’t play center field, which means the Yankees would likely be using him in left field. While Tucker is certainly an excellent hitter, it’s fair to wonder whether the Yankees would want to invest that heavily at a non-premium position for a player who isn’t quite a superstar.
