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The New York Yankees have had their share of near-misses when it comes to big trades, but few close calls would have been as damaging as the one that surfaced on Sunday. According to SNY’s Andy Martino, the Yankees and Mets held serious discussions before the deadline on a one-for-one swap: Trent Grisham for Brett Baty. On paper, the deal appeared to be a win-win. In reality, it would have been a colossal mistake for the Bronx Bombers.

Grisham’s Breakout Changed the Season

At the time of the talks, the Yankees were reeling. Aaron Judge’s elbow scare had the front office bracing for the worst. At the time, the team was barely above water in the standings. Selling wasn’t just a whisper—it was a legitimate consideration. Grisham was one of the names floated as potentially expendable.

That feels laughable now. Grisham has authored a career year, smashing 34 home runs—double his previous best—and posting a .238/.349/.469 slash line across 573 plate appearances. While his defensive metrics have dipped, his offensive surge has been nothing short of season-defining. He stabilized center field at a moment when the Yankees couldn’t count on Judge’s arm and carried stretches of the lineup when stars like Cody Bellinger cooled off.

If New York had shipped him across town, their September surge likely never would have happened. The Yankees have gone 28-11 since mid-August, climbing into a position where both the AL East title and the league’s top seed remain in play. Remove Grisham’s power and on-base presence from that equation, and the Yankees might be fighting just to hang onto a wild card.

A Sliding Doors Moment

Of course, the other side of the proposed deal adds insult to injury. Baty, once heralded as a cornerstone of the Mets’ rebuild, has been serviceable but hardly spectacular in 2025. He’s put together a career-best 110 wRC+ with a .254 average and 18 home runs, but the year has been uneven. He was even demoted early in the season after a brutal start, only to resurface with a late-season hot streak.

That’s not the type of production that makes up for losing a player in the middle of a breakout campaign. Even if Baty’s controllable years made him a tempting piece, the Yankees already addressed third base with Ryan McMahon, whose defensive reliability has been a quiet blessing. Sacrificing Grisham for a player whose ceiling remains murky would have been reckless.

And let’s not ignore the optics. Yankees-Mets trades are rare for a reason. Fans on both sides dissect every angle, and this one stands as the kind of lopsided deal that haunts a franchise for decades.

The Yankees’ choice to hold firm at the deadline looks smarter with every passing day. Instead of becoming deadline sellers, they doubled down, added veteran depth, and bet on Judge’s recovery. That bet has paid off handsomely. Meanwhile, the Mets’ season has unraveled. With a 20-31 record since August 1 and Cedric Mullins floundering as their answer in center field, Queens is staring at October without playoff baseball.

It’s the ultimate sliding-doors scenario. If the Grisham-for-Baty deal had gone through, the Yankees might be limping toward the offseason instead of eyeing a deep October run.

The Yankees came within inches of sabotaging their own season. By resisting the temptation to move Grisham, they may have saved it.

Alvin Garcia Born in Puerto Rico, Alvin Garcia is a sports writer for Heavy.com who focuses on MLB. His work has appeared on FanSided, LWOS, NewsBreak, Athlon Sports, and Yardbarker, covering mostly MLB. More about Alvin Garcia