Are the Yankees back in on Brett Gardner?
According to YES Network’s Jack Curry, the team re-kindled convos with Gardner after re-signing DJ LeMahieu’s deal two weeks ago, and Curry believes a reunion is coming.
WFAN’s Sweeny Murti also reiterated in an appearance on Moose & Maggie Monday that the Yankees’ top priority this offseason was LeMahieu, and they would make more moves following his resolution – that has so far been prescient – and that a Gardner reunion makes “a ton of sense.”
Gardner, who turned 37 last August, played 49 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and slashed .223/.354/.392, that line including a career-low average but an OBP that was his highest in a “full” season since 2010, and was spurred by a career-high 16.5 percent walk rate.
It was just one full season ago, 2019, that Gardner slashed .251/.325/.503 with 28 homers, 74 RBI, and 10 steals in 141 games, and while he is now four and five full seasons removed, respectively, from his lone All-Star appearance (2015) and Gold Glove (2016), he still does provide above-average defense in both left and center field.
The Yankees have a current “penciled in” outfield of Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks, and Aaron Judge, with Giancarlo Stanton at DH and Mike Tauchman and Greg Allen also on the 40-man roster – but the only “depth” is Estevan Florial, whose MLB debut game in 2020 was his only regular-season appearance above A-ball, or converted infielders who have played the outfield in Tyler Wade and Miguel Andujar.
Despite that, the Yankees’ proximity to the luxury tax threshold made a Gardner reunion somewhere between “unlikely” and “only at a discount,” especially after the announced acquisition of RHP Jameson Taillon and his $2.25 million salary on Sunday – but with the Yankees shedding just over $8mm in payroll by dealing Adam Ottavino to Boston Monday, they now have more wiggle room.
After his four-year extension expired following 2018, Gardner made $7.5 million on a one-year deal in 2019 and then banked $12.5 million last season – a $2m signing bonus, $8m salary, and $2.5m buyout of his 2021 option.
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