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Organizational depth and a quality bench could be connected, but they don’t necessarily mean the same thing. The Yankees have an option in Jasson Domínguez who, for all the reservations some of us may have, most teams would be perfectly willing to hand him the reins and at least try to maintain a starting gig. As things currently stand, that won’t be the case, but at the same time, the Yankees can’t simply restrict him to coming off the bench, as it’d likely be detrimental to his development. The better option to fill that role of a fourth outfielder for New York is Randall Grichuk, signed to a minor league deal a few days ago.
If we strictly look at Grichuk’s production last year, it’s hard to argue he’d represent a better fit than anything the Yankees might turn to in-house, acknowledging Grichuk will earn a 2.5 million salary if he makes the Opening Day roster. The veteran right-handed hitter followed up an exciting 2024 campaign with arguably the worst season of his career. Grichuk was treading water with a 99 OPS+ in a little under 200 plate appearances for Arizona before being shipped off to Kansas City at the deadline, where he struggled mightily, producing a .566 OPS in 105 plate appearances with the Royals.
On a very basic level, Grichuk is predictable in his unpredictability, and this volatility is what makes him attainable with little to no resistance or risk. Over the last three seasons, he’s been good with the Rockies, then not good with the Angels, good again with the Diamondbacks, then very bad with the Royals.
A closer look at that 2025 campaign would suggest Grichuk got severely unlucky with his final stat line, and there is a nice blend of contact and power to be tapped into here. Grichuk ended the year with an impressive average exit velocity of 92.4 MPH, and he did it all without chasing that much, and most importantly, making a ton of contact in the zone (north of 90 percent). The .452 xSLG Grichuk ended the season showing there was a lot more there to work with.
A hitter with a strikeout rate of 28.3 percent in his first five seasons in the bigs, Grichuk has taken the less-traveled road of a player who’s able to drastically cut down his strikeout rate. Even through his worst period of the 2025 season, Grichuk’s strikeout rate of 21 percent with the Royals was manageable, in part thanks to his ability to make consistent contact in the zone. Odds are, Grichuk won’t deliver a big campaign for the Yankees, and as things currently stand, it’s unclear if he even makes the roster. What’s undeniable is that for what he costs, a hitter who showed his contact skills and raw power represents a worthwhile gamble for a team in need of a better bench.
After covering the potential for improvement, what’s been consistent throughout Grichuk’s career is his reliability to perform significantly better against left-handed pitching, something particularly appealing for a team with two-thirds of its starting outfield being left-handed hitters. Back in 2024, Grichuk delivered a .319/.386/.528 slash line against southpaws, and throughout his entire career, the outfielder has an OPS north of .800 against southpaws.
Spencer Jones and Jasson Domínguez are doing quite well during the start of spring, but neither fits the profile of what the Yankees would look for in a fourth outfielder. Grichuk is this team’s clear-cut top option right now.