TAMPA — Has a team ever angered so much of its fan base by acquiring or retaining a player off of a strong season as the Yankees have with Trent Grisham?
Let’s see if I can follow the bouncing ball of grievance: The offering of and the acceptance of the $22.025 million qualifying offer by Grisham was going to keep Hal Steinbrenner from re-signing Cody Bellinger.
Bellinger, though, was re-signed, so the whining morphed instantly into the opening of the Free Jasson Domínguez society. And it is true, there is now no room on a healthy roster for Domínguez, but: 1. These are the must-win Yankees, not, say, the Rockies, where Domínguez could prove or disprove he is a full-time major leaguer. 2. A situation will arise this year in which Domínguez will get a chance to try to do what Grisham actually did to him last year — play him off the field.
And Grisham did that by hitting 34 homers, with a 125 OPS-plus and the 11th-best walk percentage in the majors (14.1) to rank between Kyle Tucker and Cal Raleigh. Do I think Grisham can repeat this? Probably not. But if a big-market team cannot invest $22 million for one year to see if he can at least get close, then they really should close up shop in The Bronx.
