When the New York Yankees designated veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment in April, the move barely registered. A month later, his torrid start with the White Sox has at least one analyst calling the decision “painfully wrong.”
As injuries continue to test New York’s lineup depth, Grichuk’s unexpected resurgence has intensified scrutiny of a roster move that once appeared routine but now looks far more consequential.
Since joining Chicago on May 4 â a $1.25 million, one-year deal, per MLB.com‘s Scott Merkin â Grichuk has posted a .300 batting average with four home runs, 13 RBI and a .958 OPS over 19 games. His 213 wRC+, a metric where 100 represents league average, means he has produced at more than twice the rate of a typical big leaguer since heading from the Bronx to Chicago’s South Side. Those numbers have left Yankees fans stunned, with longtime Yankees analyst Esteban Quiñones of Pinstripes Nation calling the New York decision “painfully wrong.”
Grichuk’s output in New York made the DFA look like a no-brainer. Across 31 at-bats, Grichuk batted .194 with a dismal .212 on-base percentage, no home runs, two RBI and 10 strikeouts. He was supposed to be the platoon right-handed bat in a lineup stacked with left-handed hitters, deployed primarily against southpaws. That plan by manager Aaron Boone did not exactly work out.
Grichuk’s Yankees Tenure and White Sox Signing
Grichuk arrived in the Bronx on a minor league deal out of spring training, brought in specifically for his track record against left-handed pitching. Over 13 seasons and eight organizations, including the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies and Kansas City Royals, the Rosenberg, Texas, native has launched 212 career home runs and posted a .816 career OPS against southpaws.
But Grichuk went 0-for-13 to open the year before recovering slightly in late April. The Yankees needed a roster slot for right-hander Elmer Rodriguez. Grichuk became the casualty. He rejected an outright assignment to the minors and elected free agency. Three days later, Chicago called.
“It kind of came in the last second,” Grichuk told MLB.com‘s Merkin upon joining Chicago. “We were talking to a few other teams, about to get something done, and the White Sox came into the mix and felt like it was a good opportunity.”
White Sox Surge Highlights Yankees Roster Issues
Giancarlo Stanton has missed more than a month with a calf injury and Jasson Dominguez has been sidelined by a shoulder problem, exposing the same gap Grichuk was signed to fill â a right-handed bat with power. Andrew Jamieson of Yahoo Sports noted that Chicago has gone 13-9 since Grichuk’s arrival, climbing to second place in the AL Central.
The counter-argument, raised by Stephen Parello of Yanks Go Yard, is that both sample sizes remain small. Grichuk posted an 82 wRC+ last season and has moved in and out of relevance across multiple organizations since 2021. Paul Goldschmidt has provided capable production against left-handed pitching in Stanton’s absence, slashing .264/.361/.509 with six home runs.
Still, a player the Yankees cut for nothing is now one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Every Grichuk home run lands somewhere between inconvenient and instructive for a Bronx front office that dealt away a right-handed bat and immediately needed one.
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