CHICAGO — The San Diego Padres salary-dumped Trent Grisham when they traded him as part of the package that helped the New York Yankees land Juan Soto in December 2023. But the Yankees did not view Grisham as just a throw-in in that blockbuster deal. They targeted him.
The Yankees wanted to improve their bench, and they thought the two-time Gold Glove Award winner was a useful player to have as a fourth outfielder. As it turns out, there was untapped offensive potential in Grisham’s bat, too.
This isn’t just a 2025 breakout for Grisham; he showed this kind of upside offensively last season. In limited action from June 1 until the end of the season, Grisham posted a 117 wRC+. Earlier this season, the Yankees privately expressed regret for not using Grisham at all in the postseason. But the way he’s elevated his game this year amplifies the sting of what the Yankees could’ve had in the World Series last year had they used him over Alex Verdugo, who’s currently a free agent.
“I felt like he had a chance to be really productive for us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of what he thought Grisham could mean for the Yankees in 2025. “The fact that he’s sitting here as our leadoff guy with over a .350 on-base (percentage), 28 homers. I would have signed up for that in a heartbeat. He’s taken the opportunity and completely run with it, and he’s put together a real career year for himself.”
Grisham has been the biggest surprise for the Yankees in 2025. He belted his 28th home run of the season Friday, a grand slam off former Yankees prospect Yoendrys Gómez in a 10-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox. Winners of a season-high six games in a row, the Yankees (75-60) are three back of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East and a half game ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the top wild-card spot. They have averaged nearly nine runs a game during the winning streak.
Grisham’s wRC+ is now 134, only 14 percent less than Juan Soto’s with the New York Mets. The biggest difference, though, is that Grisham is making $46 million less. Some fans wanted the Yankees to non-tender Grisham this past offseason. Now he’s indispensable.
“It’s what I’ve always dreamed about and thought I was capable of,” Grisham said of his season. “It is a whole other thing to do it, but no, it does not surprise me.”
That’s Grand, Grish! 💪 pic.twitter.com/69leAmGlDA
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 30, 2025
The Yankees’ offense is so potent that it just might be good enough to carry them on another deep postseason run this October. Their 230 home runs are 29 more than the reigning World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and 38 more than the Seattle Mariners, who have the second most in the American League. The Yankees’ firepower matters because the teams that hit the most home runs usually win in the playoffs. It’s hard stringing together multiple hits against the best pitching.
It was reasonable to think the Yankees’ offense would take a step back this year after the loss of Soto. It’s hard to replace a perennial MVP candidate at the top of any team’s lineup, but the Yankees have done just that with Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice’s emergence in his first full season.
The Yankees are on track to have four players hit at least 30 home runs in the same season for the first time in franchise history. Aaron Judge already has 41 homers, Grisham has 28, and Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. have 26 apiece.
“We all know that this is a super team,” Chisholm said Thursday. “We got four MVPs on this team. We got a bunch of other superstars on this team, too.”
Trent Grisham and José Caballero celebrate after the Yankees won their sixth game in a row. (Daniel Bartel / Getty Images)
The player with the fewest home runs in their usual lineup is Giancarlo Stanton, and he has 17 home runs in 53 games. Stanton is on track to have his best season in pinstripes yet.
The Yankees have several flaws they’ll need to overcome if they reach the postseason, such as their tendency not to play clean baseball and the occasional meltdown from a reliever. But none of that is as important as their ability to out-slug their opponents.
Opposing pitching in October will be better than what the Yankees have seen this week against the White Sox and Washington Nationals. The true test will be what they do in the coming two weeks against playoff teams, but if their offense continues to be this elite, it won’t be easy to count out the Yankees when the postseason arrives.
(Photo of Trent Grisham: Daniel Bartel / Getty Images)
