Yankees-Braves trade idea sees New York abruptly cut ties with All-Star candidate

The New York Yankees are succeeding on offense because of Aaron Judge, of course, but also because of some unexpected contributors.

Judge leads the Yankees in OPS at a ridiculous 1.267 mark. The next-closest qualified hitter is Ben Rice at .912. But despite not having the requisite 3.1 plate appearances per game, Trent Grisham is second on the team with 12 home runs while putting up a shocking 1.025 OPS.

If All-Star voting ended today, there's a strong chance Grisham, even with only partial playing time, would make it to the game in Atlanta. The question for the Yankees to parse, then, is how much to buy into this blazing-hot start.

Grisham was the throw-in in last year's Juan Soto deal. New York could either try to bottle up this production for the rest of the year to maximize the return after losing Soto, or go the opposite way and trade Grisham while his value is at a high point.

On Tuesday, TJ French of Heavy suggested a deal that would see the Yankees sell high on Grisham. French proposed New York could ship Grissom to the Atlanta Braves for swingman Grant Holmes, who would quickly grab a spot in the Yankees' rotation.

"The Yankees (have) a great opportunity to sell high on Grisham, who is bound to come back down to earth," French wrote.

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"Holmes would be the perfect third-fourth rotation option for New York as they get things settled with the rest of the pitchers in the rotation... The bottom line is that the Yankees’ rotation has been hampered with injuries, and reinforcements are needed now."

Holmes, 29, spent nearly 10 years in the minors before finally making his big-league debut last season. But he's been a quality arm for the Braves in both starting and relief roles, pitching to a 4.14 ERA so far this season with 44 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings.

While it might seem crazy to deal away Grisham when he's hit this well, keep in mind that coming into the season, he was the clear-cut fourth outfielder behind Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Jasson Domínguez. Plus, there will be less at-bats to go around once Giancarlo Stanton returns from the injured list to claim the designated hitter role.

There's certainly no guarantee a deal happens, but it's possible.

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