The New York Yankees at one time this season was being compared to the old Bronx Bombers with their version of the roaring 1920s. It wasn’t that the Yankees dominated the American League East, but how they were doing it. The MLBbro tag team of Giancarlo Stanton and the odds on favorite for AL MVP, Aaron Judge, was sending out baseball souvenirs at a rate that made baseball gloves as important as hats.
There are now two questions surrounding the team as of late. Number one, can Aaron Judge duplicate his MVP season numbers or maybe even surpass them?
Aaron Judge at the halfway point, compared to 2022 when he hit 62 home runs đź‘€
Number two, what is going on with the recent collapse of the team?
Recently, those all-time greatest New York Yankees team comparisons have ground to a halt with a slide nearly as bad as Aaron Judge’s start in April. As of this writing, the Yanks have lost four straight games and eight of their last ten. With this slide, they have also lost the division lead by percentage points to the Baltimore Orioles. Allowing the New York Mets to sweep the Subway Series with a 12-2 blowout in the finale provides enough evidence that the Yankees need retooling and quick.
It’s no real coincidence that the Yankees’ struggles (Aaron Judge is not on that list) started with the injury to Stanton during the Atlanta Braves series.
Looking at how Giancarlo Stanton rounded third base, you can see him grimacing a bit as he heads to home.”
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) June 23, 2024
Now, with Stanton straining his hamstring, the power surge in the middle of the lineup is missing. With one of the the leading candidates for AL Comeback Player Of the Year out, it’s time for another MLBbro to step up and fill a serious void in the lineup particularly with the pitching starting becoming an issue.
Trent Grisham…
You remember Trent Grisham… the one that stepped into the batter’s box while fans were screaming for Juan Soto. Then he showed class by hitting a home run into the seats and getting a standing ovation in the process. A “Magic Moment” if anyone ever saw one…
What gets lost in that “Magic Moment” is the fact that the Yankees fans did have just cause to ask for Juan Soto. If you thought Aaron Judge was off to a slow start to the season, Grisham made him look like the late Tony Gwynn. However over the last few games, Grisham has started to come on offensively a little bit.
Here’s the comparisons of our MLBbro’s production from the last seven games stretched out to 30 via MLB.com. Over the last seven games which coincides with the Yankees losing streak it does seem that Aaron Judge does have some help in holding down the fort until Giancarlo Stanton makes his return.
The Yankees need someone to protect Aaron Judge from teams starting to pitch around him. Trent’s two homers and three RBI while batting .400 in 10 at-bats surely qualifies. MLBbro.com reporter Gary Sheffield broke down what Grisham can bring earlier this season.Â
With MLBbro Stanton recovering from a hamstring strain, Trent Grisham is going to have to provide more “Magic Moments” for the Yankees to keep pace with Baltimore.
Juan Soto isn’t the only one coming to the Bronx this offseason. So is MLBbro Trent Grisham.
On Wednesday night, the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres put together a blockbuster deal to send young superstar Soto to the Bronx along with Grisham.
The Padres received right-handed pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Who Is MLBbro Trent Grisham?Â
Last season, the Padres had one of the highest payrolls in the majors; however, they underperformed.
Grisham put up steady numbers but struggled to recapture his all-around game. He batted 198. for the season and knocked in 50 RBIs and 13 home runs.
In five seasons (rookie season spent with Milwaukee Brewers) Grisham has accumulated three campaigns of double-digit homers and stolen bases, so he’s a weapon that the Yankees don’t have in abundance.
The centerfielder now has a new home until his contract is up in two years. Grisham could have better numbers like his outfield counterpart Soto, but he may consume the depth role. Grisham is not shy to be available. In his last two seasons, he played almost every game. Coming off the bench might be an adjustment for the outfielder, as he started nearly all of the games last year for the Padres.Â
With the hopes of Grisham embracing the bench role, he put together a solid career thus far. Grisham was drafted in 2015 in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 15th pick.
After being drafted, Grisham was sent down to the minors.
Grisham played double-A and triple-A for the next three years. In that time in the minors, he put together solid stats and showed signs of a promising young star.
In 2019, he got the call-up by appearing in 51 games that year. In those games, Grisham finished with a 231—batting average.
This showed the potential.
Milwaukee traded Grisham to the Padres. He spent the next four years as San Diego’s starting centerfielder. Those next four years would be an up-and-down adventure as Grisham remained a starter but couldn’t find his footing at the plate. During the Covid-shortened season, he would manage a career-best .251 batting average. Through it all, Grisham has produced some exciting moments, flashed great potential and out in work off the field.Â
How Does Grisham Fit With Yankees?Â
With Grisham coming over in this trade, it puts the Yankees in a good spot to make the offseason. There are numerous ways the Yanks can use him. He might get put on the bench along with others, like Isaia Kinner-Falfa, the utility player.Â
Grisham will round out the bench perfectly and provide a winning mentality in the locker room, which is something the Yankees could use. Yankees teams in recent years have often struggled with its share of egos and injury.
A new exciting piece could provide everybody with a revamped mindset. Grisham has two years left on his contract, and it’s not expensive. $4.2 million is what Grisham is going to be owed in his deal. This allows the Yankees to make him an affordable piece they could potentially move for upgraded pitching later on in the game.
In a recent interview with the YES Network, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said:Â
“We want the best team possible; after this trade, we think we can compete for a championship,” Cashman said. Â
This could mean Grisham can be traded again before the season starts or at the end of this year. However, the scenario plays out: the Yankees have improved their chances of competing for a World Series and Trent Grisham can become a crucial piece to this New York clubhouse.Â
Just ask LA Angels first base coach Bo Porter and MLB Network.
Rachel Hill gives her ‘Two Cents’ on San Diego Padres outfielder Trent Grisham, a force on the field and also in the community, lending his time to social causes and engaging with the fans.
Over the weekend, Trent Grisham and the San Diego Padres came to Atlanta to take on Michael Harris II and the red-hot Atlanta Braves. Harris and the Braves took Game 1 of the series before dropping three straight to the powerhouse from Southern California, in what many fans consider an early NLCS preview.Â
The two teams played some exciting baseball, combining for 39 runs over three really competitive games before Sunday night’s 10-2 bruising by the Padres on national TV.Â
Casual fans may have been enamored with the quality of baseball being played (and rightfully so), but anyone who is a fan of roster construction and the philosophy a franchise uses to build said roster, saw two different ideologies on display.Â
Built for Success
For Harris II and the Braves, the focus has been on retaining in-house talent in order to maintain a core of players that will compete for a World Series every season for the foreseeable future. The Braves talent pipeline has been legendary in the baseball world, and this latest crop of talent has already lived up to the hype.
The 2022 National League Rookie of the Year leads a new batch of talent that looks to extend a streak of five consecutive division titles into the next decade.
Harris, who was drafted in the third round by Atlanta in 2019, hit .297 with 19 home runs, 27 doubles, 20 steals and 64 RBI while also playing a Gold Glove caliber centerfield. Money Mike’s quick adjustment to the majors was rewarded with an eight-year, $72 million contract that cemented him as a member of Atlanta’s core going forward.
Bought For SuccessÂ
Grisham’s Padres on the other hand, looking to stand out in a division that boasts the big spending Los Angeles Dodgers and always relevant San Francisco Giants, have chosen to spend their way to relevancy as opposed to banking on prospects.
Their everyday lineup reads like a National League All Star lineup, with names like soon to return Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Juan Soto and newly acquired Xander Bogaerts. Padres owner Peter Seidler recognizes that his team is now the only show in town and has made it clear to the baseball world that San Diego will be in play for any superstar they want.
The addition of Bogaerts on a 11-year, $280 million deal was a result of the 50-game suspension that Tatis Jr. received for a positive steroid test. When he returns from suspension Tatis Jr., who was never a great fielder to begin with, will be pushed into the outfield. A move to the outfield means the two-time Gold Glove winner Grisham will now have one bad outfielder on one side in Soto, and an inexperienced outfielder on the other in Tatis Jr., making him more valuable than ever defensively for the Padres.Â
San Diego will be able to slug their way to victory on most nights, and we saw that this weekend against Atlanta. But if San Diego has plans of topping their NLCS appearance from last year, they must be solid defensively, meaning Grisham will need to hold down the outfield.
The Braves way has already proven fruitful with a World Series and multiple division crowns.
If San Diego is able to match their World Series total with just the stroke of a pen, how can you criticize either method? There once was a franchise in the Bronx that operated somewhat like Seidler and the Padres, and we all saw how that worked.
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