Orioles must immediately take this free agent off their offseason shopping list

With back-to-back seasons under the .500 mark, the Baltimore Orioles will have to make some changes if they'd like to play baseball in October next season. That could mean expanding their budget and lengthening their offseason shopping list of potential free agent signings. With a number of valuable players on the open market, the Orioles have the chance to add some big bats to the lineup.  

That just might be the best move in order to compete in a bloodthirsty division like the AL East. It could also be tempting to steal a player from a team like the New York Yankees in order to use him against them. That player could be someone like outfielder Trent Grisham, who would certainly fill a need for the Orioles. However, that might not be the wisest decision.  

Grisham has performed well against the Orioles in 33 career games. The same could be said about Grisham’s time playing at Camden Yards. In 18 games at the Orioles’ home ballpark, he owns a .783 OPS in 66 at-bats. Not bad at all. Over the course of a full season in Baltimore, Grisham has the potential to do some serious damage on offense. In the blink of an eye, the team could add another difference maker on offense.  

But despite that potential, despite that allure of signing a player away from the Yankees, the move could wind up hurting the Orioles more in the long run. It’s why the Orioles’ front office should completely take Grishman off of their potential offseason targets and look elsewhere.

Trent Grisham would detract from what the Orioles are trying to do   

On the offensive side of things, it might already seem fairly obvious. If you took Grisham’s .211/.308/.395 slash line in 2026 at face value, you would probably assume that he had a tough year at the plate. And while that is true, it’s not quite as bleak as it looks. His OPS did take a nosedive from last season, dropping by more than 100 points this season. That usually doesn’t bode well for a player no matter how you look at it. 

But to be fair, Grisham did have a somewhat unfortunate streak of bad luck at the plate this season. He still managed to barrel up just under 10% of all his batted balls, an above average clip for a player in the big leagues. He also saw his home runs dramatically decrease this year while he hit more than twice as many doubles as last season. 

With decent underlying metrics and elite plate discipline, Grisham still has plenty to offer at the plate. And you could argue that a lingering hamstring injury throughout the season affected Grishman’s ability to really get comfortable with his hitting. That same hamstring issue could have hindered his defense as well. Though his range has seen a steady regression since his 2023 season, he may have plenty more left in the tank when fully healthy.   

While he's always been known for his nonchalant, one-handed snags and icy cool demeanor in the outfield, his defense has become a far cry from his stellar play earlier in his career. Grisham was recently ridiculed for taking a lackluster route to a shallow fly ball in the Yankees' AL Wild Card Series matchup against the Boston Red Sox. 

On the play, Grisham took his time to field the ball and allowed Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton a chance to advance to second on the play. Eaton was eventually left stranded on base, but the damage was already done to Grisham’s reputation. For a player that was struggling to produce at the plate, it became the final straw for Yankees fans who may have been on the fence regarding the veteran outfielder. 

With 20 Defensive Runs Saved on the season, the Orioles were ranked 15th in the entire league. That's already right in the middle of the pack. For a team looking to gain an advantage over division rivals and get back into the postseason, the Orioles need to look to improve on that middling defense, not detract from it any more. Signing Grisham could do just that. 

Adding Grisham would also serve as a roadblock for a number of younger players deserving of a chance to prove their worth in 2027. Colton Cowser had a roller coaster season at the plate in 2026, but he still provides an elite level of defense. And a prospect like Enrique Bradfield Jr. could give the Orioles a glove-first outfielder with game changing speed that they won’t be able to find anywhere else. 

Trent Grisham is not the worst player that the Orioles could sign in the offseason, but he still wouldn’t make them a better ball club. The team already saw the lack of value that Tyler O’Neill provided the team over the last two seasons. They can’t afford to make that same mistake again.  

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