New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham could be on the move this offseason. The 29-year-old is coming off a career season where he hit 34 home runs, slashed .235/ .348/ .464 and added 74 RBIs, with a .811 OPS and a 3.5 WAR.
The Yankees extended Grisham a qualifying offer worth $22.025 million for next season, a move that was publicly criticized by long-time Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay.
While Grisham has until Nov. 18 to decide on the offer, he has already been linked to potentially signing with the Kansas City Royals, should he reject New York’s offer and become a free agent.
“For the Royals, Grisham represents the type of affordable, high-upside acquisition that could help balance their lineup,” Curt Bishop wrote on Grisham’s fit with the Royals. “He wouldn’t require a long-term mega deal, and Kansas City could offer a short-term contract with opt-out clauses, giving both sides flexibility. This would be similar to the one Alex Bregman received from the Boston Red Sox last offseason.”
Grisham joined the Yankees as part of the blockbuster Juan Soto trade in 2024 and made $5.25 million this past season, according to Spotrac. If Grisham accepts the qualifying offer, he would see a roughly $16.775 million raise from 2025 to 2026 and would almost double his career earnings.
“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,” Kay said on his self-titled show. “So there is such a thing as a bad one-year contract if it inhibits you from doing other things that said year.”
But if Grisham declines the deal, the Yankees would not only save the $22.025 million, but they would also receive a compensatory pick in the 2026 MLB Draft as part of the qualifying offer.
No matter which decision Grisham makes, he’s likely in for a big payday. His market value is currently valued at between $48.2 million and $66 million over four years, according to Spotrac’s and MLB Trade Rumors’ current projections.
Accepting the offer would mean that the two-time Golden Glove winner would return to center field and Judge would be back in right, leaving left field still open. The Yankees could look for veteran free agents like Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker, or take a chance on budding stars like Jasson Domíguez or the Yankees’ No. 4 prospect Spencer Jones.
Grisham’s deal would also keep the Yankees’ outfield as one of the more expensive in the MLB, spending roughly $62 million next season for two players, excluding any potential future free agent signings.
There’s also a possibility that if Grisham takes the offer that New York could just trade him. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Hal Steinbrenner is looking to cut costs and lower the Yankees’ payroll below $300 million.
The Cleveland Browns are off to a 2-7 start, and fans have called for head coach Kevin Stefanski to be fired.
However, it is unlikely that Stefanski will be fired this season. Meanwhile, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot revealed that he is likely to return in 2026. General manager Andrew Berry is also expected back, according to Cabot.
“The truth is, we have no idea what they are actually really thinking,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “I know going into it, Jimmy Haslam has indicated, I believe at the owner’s meetings, that he wasn’t holding Kevin and Andrew’s feet to the fire because this was the year they were trying to figure out what they had in one of these rookie quarterbacks. Or, at least at that point, they knew it was going to be one rookie quarterback.
“I don’t think there was this sense of ‘win or else’ this season. It was about fact-finding and figuring out what they had and helping them inform what to do in the 2026 draft. I just don’t think this was a year where the expectations were super, crazy high. But, still, you have to see certain things from your football team. … I do think that Jimmy believes in continuity and alignment in his organization. And, he knows that this is a challenging year with all of the rookies. In a perfect world, he’s going to want to try to maintain that continuity. And, see if they can’t get this thing on the right track with a new quarterback they will probably draft in 2026.
Cabot believes Haslam still has confidence in Berry and Stefanski, and both could very well return next season with a new quarterback.
Cleveland has struggled this season as the Browns are off to a 2-7 start and coming off a disappointing 27-20 road loss to the New York Jets.
Following the loss, Stefanski made it clear that the goal and focus are on turning it around and finding ways to win.
“Obviously frustrated, disappointed on that result yesterday,” Stefanski said on Monday. “And we’re spending time right now watching it with the players and trying to learn from that. You know, hard to win on the road, and certainly hard when you do some of the things we did in that ball game. But we’re committed to this thing, and we’ll just find ways to get better in all areas and we’ll go from there. Big division game at our place this week.”
Stefanski believes the Browns have to be better in all three phases of the game. Despite that being an issue all season, he has full confidence in his group.
The Browns will host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a game Cleveland is a 7.5-point underdog.
Although Stefanski hasn’t been fired, and there are no signs he will be, his name has come up for other jobs.
The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday after a loss to the Chicago Bears. Following Daboll’s firing, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky links Stefanski to the Giants.
“The No. 1 name that I would pay attention to if I were the Giants is what happens in Cleveland with Kevin Stefanski,” Orlovsky said on Monday on NFL Live. “If I could hand-pick a guy, it would be Stefanski. He’s an outstanding coach, two-time Coach of the Year.
“I understand people in Cleveland are like, ‘This guy can’t coach’. But there’s a lot of empirical data that would say otherwise. … I would pay attention to see what’s going on in Cleveland.”
Stefanski has been the Browns’ head coach since 2020 and has led them to the playoffs twice.