The Yankees and center fielder Trent Grisham avoided arbitration ahead of Friday’s non-tender deadline.
The two sides agreed on a one-year, $5 million deal, according to ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. Grisham can make another $250,000 in bonuses tied to plate appearances. The Yankees, meanwhile, won’t pay Grisham more than the $5.7 million he was projected to make in arbitration, per MLB Trade Rumors.
Grisham was considered a strong candidate to be non-tendered or traded – he can still be dealt – as the veteran center fielder didn’t make much of an impact in 2024 after being acquired from San Diego in the Juan Soto trade. Grisham played in just 76 games, none of which came in the postseason, while hitting .190/.290/.385. He only had 34 hits, though nine of them were home runs.
While Grisham didn’t make his presence felt much last season, the Yankees currently have holes in their outfield thanks to Alex Verdugo and Soto’s free agencies. Grisham is an elite defender, and ex-Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader, a similar player, signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Mets last offseason.
The Yankees also announced that they agreed to one-year deal and avoided arbitration with JT Brubaker. While terms were not disclosed, the right-hander was projected to make $2.275 million in arbitration.
Brubaker was acquired from the Pirates while recovering from Tommy John surgery last season. He never pitched for the Yankees, as he went on to suffer an oblique injury during a rehab assignment.
A starter throughout his career, Brubaker has not pitched in a major league game since 2022.
While the Yankees came to terms with Grisham and Brubaker, they non-tendered Tim Mayza and Jon Berti. They are now free agents, giving the Yankees some salary relief after entering the day with a projected payroll of $238.8 million for 2025, per Cot’s Contracts.
Mayza, projected to make $4 million in arbitration, was picked up off the scrap heap following a disastrous start to his season in Toronto. He recorded a 4.00 ERA over 15 regular season games for the Yankees before logging 2.1 scoreless innings in the playoffs.
With Tim Hill already a free agent, the Yankees don’t have any left-handed relievers on their 40-man roster after non-tendering Mayza.
While Mayza was an obvious non-tender candidate, Berti was less of a sure thing.
The Yankees appreciated the veteran’s versatility and speed after acquiring him from the Marlins in late March. However, Berti was projected to make $3.8 million, and he only played in 25 games in 2024 due to multiple injuries.
Ultimately, the Yankees decided he was too expensive for a bench role with the flexible Oswaldo Cabrera and Caleb Durbin also under employment.
While two Yankees were non-tendered, Nestor Cortes ($7.7 million projected salary), Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($6.9 million), Clarke Schmidt ($3.5 million), Jose Trevino ($3.4 million), Mark Leiter Jr. ($2.1 million) and Scott Effross ($900,00) were all tendered contracts and are arbitration-eligible.
That doesn’t guarantee those players will be Yankees in 2025, as they can still be traded. Cortes’ name has popped up in rumors before, and Trevino could be deemed expendable given his salary and the Yankees’ surplus of catching depth.
If you include Ben Rice and Jesús Rodríguez, the Yankees have six backstops on their 40-man roster (Austin Wells, J.C. Escarra and Carlos Narvaez are the others). The team found itself in a similar situation last year and ultimately traded four catchers: Kyle Higashioka, Ben Rortvedt, Luis Torrens and Agustín Ramírez.
Higashioka was the first to go despite being tendered, as he was included in the Soto trade. Trevino’s situation is comparable to the one Higashioka was in, as he’s an increasingly expensive, glove-first veteran who is a year away from free agency.
