The moment that news broke late Friday afternoon that the Yankees would be optioning Jasson Domínguez to Triple-A, it seemed like a cinch that big-league veteran Randal Grichuk would make their Opening Day roster. Although he arrived to camp as a late-signing non-roster invitee and manager Aaron Boone tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a sure thing that be with them at the start of 2026 (even saying so yesterday), Grichuk so clearly seemed to fit what the Yankees claimed they were looking for all winter: a righty-hitting bench outfielder.
As such, it has to come to pass: Grichuk will be on the 2026 Yankees, per Boone’s report on Saturday morning. Domínguez wasn’t the only player who had to make room for Grichuk given the crowded roster situation, and so came the related news that utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera would begin the year in Triple-A:
Cabrera had an option and is coming back from a pretty brutal ankle injury, only making it into seven games thus far in spring training. So for as solid as a bench option as he is at full health, he’s not quite there yet, and he can keep getting regular reps at Scranton rather than rarely playing in the majors. More likely than not, he’ll be needed sooner rather than later given the overall age of the Yankees’ roster.
As for Grichuk, he’s not terribly exciting on the surface, but as Estevão noted earlier in March, there’s a reason why he had the Yankees were interested in him. Is it possible that he was just cooked in his 85 OPS+ age-33 season last year? Sure. However, he has an .819 career OPS against lefties and that figure was .913 as recently as 2024. So it’s worth the flyer to see if he still has that in him, especially when the roster flexibility is available at the moment with Cabrera and Domínguez’s options (and need for playing time).
Just to throw my hat in the ring on Opening Day roster projections, here’s what I think it could be as of now, acknowledging that Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, and Anthony Volpe will all begin the year on the IL:
Catchers (2)
Austin Wells
J.C. Escarra
Infielders (6)
Ben Rice
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
José Caballero
Ryan McMahon
Paul Goldschmidt
Amed Rosario
Outfielders (4)
Cody Bellinger
Trent Grisham
Aaron Judge
Randal Grichuk
Designated Hitter (1)
Giancarlo Stanton
Starting Pitchers (5)
Max Fried
Cam Schlittler
Luis Gil
Ryan Weathers
Will Warren
Bullpen (8)
David Bednar
Camilo Doval
Fernando Cruz
Tim Hill
Ryan Yarbrough
Paul Blackburn
Cade Winquest
Jake Bird
That last spot in the bullpen could go to someone like Brent Headrick rather than Bird, but aside from that, this all seems to be in order. What do you think?
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