Former Royals trade deadline disaster signs with Yankees in free agent gamble

By all accounts, despite coming short of their postseason goals in the end, the Kansas City Royals had an overall productive 2025 trade deadline as buyers.

Names like Mike Yastrzemski and Adam Frazier proved to be productive rental options to keep them in the playoff mix until late September, while other additions like Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek now look like key figures in this team's competitive future.

However, there was one other name the Royals added before the trade deadline that held this team's business back from being perfect and that was Randal Grichuk, who wasn't nearly the strong veteran presence the Royals hoped he'd be down the stretch.

It was no shock that there were few, if any, links of Grichuk and the Royals re-uniting this winter, but he's now found himself a new home with spring training already underway, signing a minor league deal with the New York Yankees which includes an invite to camp, according to Jack Curry of YES Network.

Yankees take gamble on disappointing former Royals outfielder Randal Grichuk

It's not an understatement to call the Randal Grichuk experiment in Kansas City a disaster. While mainly a platoon option versus left-handed pitching, the veteran's stats were underwhelming by all accounts.

In 105 plate appearances across 43 games, Grichuk slashed just .206/.267/.299 with two homers, five RBI, a 56 wRC+ and -0.4 fWAR.

It seems as though with the additions of Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas and the hopeful breakout of Jac Caglianone, the Royals are in a spot where Grichuk's return wasn't necessary in the slightest.

Now, just because Grichuk may've found a new home, nothing is a certainty. He's on a minor league contract and while the Yankees may not have been the most active of teams on the offseason market they certainly have a crowded outfield mix that includes Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Jasson Domínguez.

However, apart from his poor showing in a Royals uniform, Grichuk was playing some of his best baseball.

In 2024 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he had somewhat of a career-year, posting a career high 139 wRC+ along with a strong .291/.348/.528 slash line. On top of that, he followed that up with a near-average 96 wRC+ performance before moving to Kansas City, certainly an output worthy of a bench role.

Grichuk had also been a consistent source of double-digit homers until 2025, belting 12 or more from 2015 to 2024.

A good showing in spring training will be key if Grichuk hopes to elongate his big league career in 2026, so time will tell if he can catch up and impress the Yankees brain trust more than he did the Royals' to make that happen.