Brett Gardner’s spring training locker is reportedly still vacant with just weeks to go before Opening Day, as the possibility still stands that the Yankees could bring back their longest-tenured player for a 15th season in pinstripes.
Multiple Yankees told NJ.com that they hope the locker is soon no longer empty, wanting the 38-year-old Gardner to return for another season.
“I think everyone in this room wants him back,” Judge told NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty. “I feel like the past couple of years, he’s always been the last guy that we’ve signed.”
Gardner has indeed been a late signing in recent years, as multiple potential ends to his Yankee tenure were squashed by another one-year deal. Gardner has been granted free agency in each of the last three offseasons, and each one brings a higher likelihood that his Yankee career is over. Now, as New York has brought back Tim Locastro and added Marwin Gonzalez on a minor league deal, the new outfield depth suggests that this may be the year Gardner does not return. But his teammates hope that is not the case.
“It would be an honor to play with him again,” Joey Gallo said. “He’s a Yankees legend and such a great clubhouse guy. Business is business and we’ve got to play whether he’s here or not, but if he came back, we’d all be super excited.”
Gardner struggled again at the plate last season, batting a career-low .222 in 140 games, much more than anyone anticipated before injuries to Aaron Hicks and lingering post-concussion symptoms for Clint Frazier led to another year of more Gardner than originally planned. It was the eighth straight 162-game season in which Gardner played at least 140 games, something that doesn’t seem practical for a bat in steep decline. But Judge and his teammates believe Gardner still brings other intangibles to the clubhouse, and hope that familiar face returns by Opening Day.
“I’m hoping he comes back,” Judge said. “It’s the little things that you can’t put a number on: leadership skills, how he controls the room, how he motivates the younger guys, how he motivates all of his teammates. We want him here.”
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