The argument will be that it’s just Spring Training, and that the results don’t matter until the real lights of the regular season turn on March 25th. And in part that is true, some players have had great Springs, and then it did not translate into success in the regular season. (Just look most recently at Anthony Volpe. Volpe had a great Spring and won the New York Yankees starting shortstop job in 2023, and has not lived up to those Spring results.) We’ve also witnessed players get off to terrible starts in the Spring, and when the season begins, that player goes off and has a great year. So while Spring Training results are to be taken with a grain of salt, there are signs to be concerned about this Spring about Trent Grisham.

WHY EVEN OFFER IT?

When the Yankees front office offered Grisham the qualifying offer at $22.5 million, it was viewed immediately as an extremely questionable decision. It seemed as if the front office believed that Grisham would decline the one-year offer and instead opt to search for a longer-term deal elsewhere. However, Trent called the Bronx front office’s bluff and accepted the deal. So the question needs to be asked, and an answer must be requested while on “truth serum,” why even offer it (where there’s a possibility that Trent would accept) if the only added benefit of his declining of the offer is just a fourth round “consolation” pick. The “benefits” didn’t seem to outweigh the cost of the potential acceptance.

BETTER OPTIONS IN-HOUSE

There’s little question now, especially since early Spring reports have already stated this fact outloud, but the resigning of Grisham pushes the young in-house options to Triple-A. Jasson Dominguez has not been given the opportunity that he’s earned based on his previous Minor League play. The extended leash offered to Volpe has come from cutting the leash extremely short on JDom. There’s little doubt in many fans’ minds that if you give Dominguez a longer (uninterrupted) run in the outfield (and, namely, center field, where he has played nearly his entire life), the results would be a significantly better version than what we’ve seen thus far. By not giving Jasson the chance to prove his worth, the Yankees are not only diminishing the potential returns on a young player. But they are also ruining the potential for this generation’s Bernie Williams. Yes, that’s a heavy comp to place on Dominguez. Yet, look at the parallels: a young Latino switch-hitter with the combination of power and speed, often overlooked. By offering Grisham the qualifier, New York weakened its potential long-term future.