The Yankees are still working with outfielder Brett Gardner on a new contract, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports on Twitter. It seems the expectation remains that he’ll stay in pinstripes.
The sides have been chatting about a new contract for some time now, but it doesn’t appear as if any doubt has arisen as to their mutual intentions. Per Heyman, the Yanks have put another offer on the table to Gardner and his reps.
It’s unknown what kind of price points are being haggled over. Gardner earned $7.5MM last year and hasn’t taken home a single-season salary of over $13.5MM during his dozen years in New York. It’s tough to imagine a new contract departing from that range.
While Gardner is now 36 years of age, he popped a career-high 28 long balls last year. Though he wasn’t alone amidst a leaguewide power outburst, he was productive as compared to the league mean and his own established track record. Gardner’s 115 wRC+ represented a full-season high-water mark. He remains a highly capable baserunner and outfielder as well.
The Yanks got exceptional value on their money last year and figure to do so again. Whether Gardner is interested in multiple years isn’t known, but it stands to reason he’d be able to command two-year offers from other teams. The steady veteran has appeared in at least 140 games in every season since his washed-out 2012. He graded out as the 32nd player on MLBTR’s Top 50 free agent rankings.
I hope Popeye stays in pinstripes cuz no one else would talk bout him, n I like calling him Popeye!
Popeye would have been the #2 outfielder on the Red Sox last year, contributing almost double Benintendi’s WAR.
He would have only hit 12-14 HRs with Boston. Over 1/2 his HRs were one or two rows deep in RF and Yankee Stadium which wouldn’t even reach the warning track in Fenway (380).
Um, the Pesky Pole at Fenway resulted in the shortest home run of the season as I recall. I watched it live, hit by Benintendi off CC Sabathia. Gardner could hit more to right than first meets the eye. People like to say Yankee Stadium is hitter-friendly, but time and again Fenway Park is ranked much higher on the lists
Next time try thinking before posting. He had 16 out of 28 home runs on the road last year. Typical brain dead remark from a Boston homer.
What a dumb post,
No facts!!
Yanks and Gardy will probably wait to agree to something until NYY does all their big deals If they have any in the world
Pay the man already! Deserves 2-3 year deal at 10+ million a year or he should leave.
Dude go home. He is going to get a one year deal on the range of what he got last year. Your comment in outlandish
His comment is not outlandish, even if his proposal is indeed a bit excessive.
If Gardner signs a one-year, $8m deal, it will be nothing more than letting the Yankees take advantage of him. They gave a same-aged JA Happ two years and $34m to not even start in the playoffs for them (and barely appear in relief, even.)
I bet some teams (Reds, Phillies, Braves, Mets, Giants) would give him a two-year deal for something like $17m. If so he should jump on it, shouldn’t let Yanks take advantage of him while watching them pay the like of Ellsbury and Happ.
The only reason why he might put up with it is to keep the relationship pristine for future studio work. But I think if he left for a much better deal he would still be welcomed back so that’s moot.
Well, that and he has a better shot at a ring in NY than any of those other destinations you listed, and only the phils/braves have a chance of sniffing the postseason at all
Your comment is preposterous. Only the Phillies and Braves have a chance of “sniffing the postseason at all”? Really? Because I’m fairly certain the Braves ran away with the NL East, and the Mets were in it until the last 10 days of the season.
The Braves are going to win that division for a long time, barring major upgrades to both the Phillies and Mets. No, Wheeler is not a major upgrade for the Phillies even though he does add wins to the Phils by taking them away from the Mets. The Phillies are not one pitcher away from contending, and the Mets are arguably closer based solely on the fact that they have deGrom, Thor and Stroman as their 1-3.
@spinach
Your theory is..the…..Yanks are paying Ellsbury this and Happ for that and they had horrible seasons and paid more than what they might offer Gardner. Do you REALLY think the Yanks paid expecting the poor results they put in? Not a smart way of looking at things. Yanks obviously expected a higher level from both Ellsbury and Happ coming off of the seasons they had at the time they were FA. Poor comparison.
“Dude go home”?? I must be missing something. How is a two year deal for a solid cf who hit 28 dingers and 4.0 war last year outlandish? Brett Gardner has done more for the Yankees in the last 4 years than what Giancarlo will ever do, pennies on the dollar. Fair market price is certainly around $10m.
Pay for the future, not the past. 36 years old to old. He’s not getting two years from any good GM.
Additionally, next year the ball might not be juiced and his homers are popups.
4.0 WAR is worth roughly $7MM per WAR. That’s $28MM. So Freedue Morales is right to be thinking it’ll be $10+ MM.
No – release him
Release your mom.
@Freddie Morales
Nah. I like Gardy but he’s on a year-to-year status until someone better comes along or the wheels fall of. Given his season, 1/$10 seems fair.
He has been a solid Yankee, but this is not about what have you done. Those days are over. 1 year max with a raise to 10 million. If you can get multiple, good luck. If they are walking from Didi, they certainly can walk from Brett.
Sure wouldn’t have you running my team!! Try just a little baseball knowledge and business sense in an effort to not make moronic comments!!!
Weirdest shaped head in all of baseball.
Wearing a helmet, paint his face and helmet green and you have The Great Gazoo from The Flintstones!
Head size increases when someone takes HGH. See the classic Simpson’s softball league episode for reference.
Or look at photos of Barry Bonds. The thing is it’s not only the head. I his case, nothing else “visible” seems to have changed and if there is a difference elsewhere, TMI…
Why ? Just give him his 23mil and move on
I feel like someone is goi g to offer him 2-3 years and he’s gone. I could see him on the Phillies, Cards, or Giants.
Then the Yankees have to let him walk. 36 years old and game predicated on speed. He is a leader, but can’t lead when skills erode and we are close to that happening. Father time is undefeated and Barry Bond’s methods are frowned upon now.
His OPS+ over the last 4 years are 92, 104, 89, and 117. That 117 was with the juiced baseball. He’ll be 37 next season and considering those items he presents a good amount of risk. My concern is that if the Yankees sign him it will end up being an overpay.
The flip side is that with Hicks out the only other CF’s for the Yankees are Tauchman and Granite. And unless the Yankees can find a way to trade for Marte there just aren’t many good center fielders in MLB these days let alone ones that are available.
In the end, the Yankees probably sign him by default. Let’s hope if they add a second year it’s a team option.
You realize the ball wasn’t just juiced for Gardner right?
The 117 is based off of the league average of 100 in 2019 so you are correct.
OPS+ is not a tell all stat, especially for a player of Gardner’s ilk. His job is to get on base, score runs, disrupt defenses with his speed and play an excellent CF or LF, which he does. Slugging pct, i.e. extra base hits, are gravy for Gardner. The guy is the heart and soul of the team and he really hasn’t lost a step in regards to his speed. He keeps himself in excellent shape.
Has anybody on this site ever played competitive baseball? There’s more to the value of a player than statistics that most of you don’t even truly understand anyway. Smh.
Thank you! You’re the only one here besides myself who truly understands baseball! Stats are for armchair nerds too lazy to play the game but want to seem important.
Well those “stats for armchair nerds” are being used by al front offices in baseball, and used by all teams to analyze players. Sorry that RBI’s aren’t good ways to evaluate a player anymore.
You are two sad dudes. Though I’m sure you were both fine Wiffle ball players.
mlb1225 I wouldn’t buy into the notion “al front offices”. The very best are going above and beyond that, and they damn well sure hope the players can roll over on a ball to get that RBI with a runner on 3rd than a strikeout with a game on the line.
@koz16
Who’s granite? I thought you created a cute nickname for Frazier like “granite hands” but he’s not really a CF so I wasn’t sure? Splain Lucy!
how did he nearly hit 30 homers last year, juiced ball or not?
Have you seen the RF porch at Yankee Stadium?
@SaberSmuckers
He hit more homers on the road (16) than at home (12).
haha
SaberSmuckers: Silenced
20 bombs hit in AL East ballparks. 8 against the rest.
Great news: temper tantrums in the dugout are projected to continue to skyrocket in 2020!!!! The world renowned duo of Gards and Booner are back and ready to hit things with a bat cause they soooo mad!!!
honestly this guy is bad news for that reason. really concerning behaviour, no matter how you interpret it.
I dont understand why it wasnt addressed by the Yanks or even MLB. It’s a stain on baseball’s image.
It was addressed. They kicked him out of three different games. One of which he didn’t even do anything. It stopped after that.
and you allow pieces of flagarant yrash like soto on the nationals to grab his crotch amd dance in the box unpunished? get outta here he was banging the ceiling not hurting anyone. not a trash can to signal pitches. gardy is a saint
You are 100 percent correct fair-critic.
What stopped? Him doing nothing? No, that continued into the post season.
Guys I’m pretty sure the guy talking about the banging like it was a big deal was just trolling, how come someone think that was a big deal, it was silly and funny.
Oh please.
If you checked you would know he was right on over 90% of those bad calls. The umps should be shown up. It’s not like anyone else is going to discipline them.
its one thing to get mad but to trash your dugout is absurd and, when it comes down to it, doesn’t really have any direct effect on the umps.
Roid rage ?
1 year 9 million.
I would assume a trade or two is coming to clear room on the 40 man. The Yanks will sign, Gardner, hopefully Cole, and still need one bullpen arm and a backup catcher. So which 4 Yanks do you think are gonna get traded?
Probably two B prosects for a reliever. Or they sign two starters and move Happ to the pen. Kyle Higashioka is the backup unless Romine re-signs.
You missed the question. If they sign those 4 position players, 4 other guys have to come off the 40 man completely.
As for Higgy, they need a better catcher for backup given that Sanchez typically misses 50 games a season. And I strongly doubt Romine comes back.
Dobsonel, until Cole signs, my guess is he’s saying all the right things but only to keep NY involved in negotiations as it gets the $$ up. I stI’ll think he signs on the West coast. If not San Diego, he seems perfect for the a Dodgers who always seem to get the pitching they want.
I wouldn’t mind JR Murphy being brought back in on a minor league contract. Good receiver and somehow stopped hitting after leaving Yanks. Still only 28.
One of the most OVERRATED players to put on a uni the last 15 years because he plays in NY. Wouldn’t sniff more than 3 million a year anywhere else.
+1 Love!
I’m not a huge fan of his, but this is a statement that lacks a basis in fact. Gardner has played 12 years, 41,.6 WAR, which places him 17th on the active list. No, he’s not a star, and no, I wouldn’t break the bank for him, but ask a GM whether they would have drafted someone like that. Don’t bury the guy just because he played for the Yankees.
Post season stat as well thank you?
Do you ask that for every play? No, no you don’t. Pretty much a poster boy for intellectual dishonesty.
“Do you ask that for every play?”
play -> player
Why pick on someone who calls himself crazy?
i had thought before that he was overrated at this point, but the fact is he was actually pretty good last year and has been for years now. not superstar-caliber, but he has actually been closer to underrated than overrated recently id say.
Minor news in the Yankee kingdom right now. Does not move the needle for the team’s chances of improving on last season’s results. He typically does not perform well in the post-season.
+1 Love!
Yanks need a cf that can stay healthy. A couple left handed bats and at least one top starter.
Would have been shocked if he signed anywhere else. How did he grade out in CF last year as 36 year old?
He did great for someone who was on steriods. The bigger question is that he does nothing in the post season.
The bigger question is would you rather see him again in the post season or take your chances with someone else? Wanna see him hitting 3rd again?
If Gardy was on steroids, everyone is.
Louie is on something that causes psychotic rage and pathological idiocy when it comes to Gardner.
Louie…your obsession with gardner is very odd and concerning . Did he sleep with your mother or your wife?
Its really odd how someone can hate a career 42 WAR player so much.
Post Season Dud – Does not increase the Yankees chances in winning a World Series.
Idiot
Retire #11?
I honestly believe that Brett Gardner was on steroids last year. The fits in the dugout are signs of roid rage. At age 36 he’s has put up his best season of all time at age 36!? There has been some talk of a juiced ball last year and you add that in with steroids I think you all see the big picture.
I honestly wanted them to walk away from Brett last year. but look what he did but was is legit I don’t think so.
Yankees should walk and walk away far and now from this guy I see a huge dip in number this year and the man goes blank in the post season. If he signs look for a below 220 batting average.
Last year they should have walked away from CC but they did not.
They need to walk away from this one sorry..
If your going to put up numbers put up his numbers in the post season as well.
Thank you come again.
clown comment bro
Dumb comment. If Gardy was on roids, everyone is. Can easily make a better case for Big Papi being on roids his cartoonish Age 40 season–on notoriously bad feet no less–than for Gardy last year.
Why comment? Move on. I hate him only because he’s not on the Red Sox. Most teams would drool drafting a player who ends up with his career, warts and all.
@Louiebeans
You see Louie, you’re guilty of thinking you’re the smartest guy in the room. If your sole reason for getting rid of Gardner is that he’s good over 162 game season but bad in a 4 game series or a series of series then have that same energy for guys in the 2019 post-season like Judge who had a .681 OPS in the ALCS. Of course you wouldn’t do it. What a guy does over 162 games matters. You want them to excel in the post-season too but you can’t sign ANY player and feel like they are a shoe in for superior post-season success.
The fact you can’t appreciate Gardner for holding down LF/CF duties when Frazier struggled and Hicks was injured and produced a 3.6 WAR , which whether you like to admit or not, ranked 17th among fWAr shows your bias. He had a great year for a guy on a $7.5 mil. He outperformed a WHOLE lot of “star” players. In no way shape or form is anyone suggesting he’s a star.
And as for CC, I can’t understand how you don’t understand that CC was an absolute steal in 2018. He had a 3.65/.4.15 ERA/FIP, 150 IP and a 2.2 WAR which ranked him 56th overall. That was for being a 5th STARTER making 1/$10 mil.. There are 30 teams with 5 rotation spots. CC ranked among the top 30th. You’re acting like he was being paid $30 mil to be an ace. He was likely, one of the best 5th starters in baseball. Cashman would’ve been a moron to NOT bringing him back in 2019….again, to be a 5th starter!!!!!
The wheels finally fell off in 2019 so he retired. Get over it. You complain about the 2018 version of CC as if he was meant to be a #1 starter as opposed to the 5th starter he was brought in to be. You’re acting as if the Yanks chose CC over a top of rotation starter. That was clearly not the case.
Severino/Paxton/Happ-Tanaka/CC
We struggled last year because Severino was injured, Happ was a complete failure and Paxton and Tanaka were inconsistent during the regular season. CC certainly failed too but he failed at being a #5 not failed to be a #1-3.
Gardner 240 hitter enough with this guy! Don’t waste your money yankees wake up!
I would generally agree but we need help in CF until Hicks gets back and there really aren’t any better options out there. That being said I hope it’s a one year pact.
If they don’t sign Gardner, who will fill in for Stanton and Judge when they have boo boos? Frazier? LOL Yankees know he’s garbage, that’s why he was sitting at AAA.
As a Yankees fan I have two issues with him. First his age obviously second his throwing arm. I would not go more than one year if he is demanding to let him walk.
Just offer my Pirates a catcher, pitcher, and OF prospects for Marte. A catcher is what they want
Yanks would have to sign Romine and trade him to the Pirates. They don’t currently have a catcher to trade. Not sure the Pirates would want to spend what Romine might cost.
Yanks have two really good catching prospects. They are just very young and years away from being ready.
Anybody else wish this site had a blocking feature? I’m tired of reading the same idiocy from the same handles over and over. *cough* Louiebeans *cough*
Frazier for Marte instead. Frazier is still a top 50 prospect
It won’t happen. Pirates are looking for a catcher prospect. Any trade for Marte would require at minimum, a Double A catcher on the verge of promotion.
Why not get creative here for both sides:
2 year deal, 2020 has a 8m salary, 2021 has a 4m player option with a 1m buyout.
Gardner gets a small bump on last year and realistically will make 9m. Yanks get a small discount on cbt AAV only being charged 6m.
Ok, play with the numbers 500 here or there, but basically that framework. It’s an opt out wink nod you know he takes, but they get a little tax room wiggling which has to be the only sticking point on not already having a deal.
Woah, I did not see this one coming
Someone has to play while Hicks is on the IL.
If they could
Just cut bait and move on from
This garbage can of a player it would be great.
Signed By Louiebeans
If the Yankees design Gardner it just proves zero commitment to winning. Yankees shouldn’t keep him even if he offered to play for free. Guy is straight trash.
Signed by Louiebeans
Time once again to move on. Gardy struck out 15 times in 34 post season AB last year with a -4 WPA. He was no better than that in 2017 and 2018
we don’t need him to get to October and he sucks horribly in October. As for guys like SBB and Beg who will talk about how great his regular season was in a live ball season- it 100% doesn’t matter. Most of his dingers come against Baltimore and the like… if you had swapped out adam jones and his 3 mil salary for Gardy and his 10 Mil salary do you think the yanks would have missed the playoffs???? (although this only matters b/c hal sets a budget and cash can’t win on 235 million a year)
In his entire post season career with 184 ABs he has 2 HRs….. and that includes all those good years in his 20s. his career post season is .196 with an ops of .511. yikes… He is one of the leaders of the October Dead Bats Society.
its just time to move on.
Signed by Louuiebeans!
Brett Garbage
Brett Gardner- Entire post season career
184 ABs
2 Homeruns
.196 Average
.511 OPS
Brett Gardner The Leader October With The Dead Bats Society.
Louie to be clear though. I respect him, he’s been a really good yankee and if money were absolutely no option I’d be fine signing him for the regular season for 300 ABs.
What i object to is him as an everyday center fielder all season and the post season…
The problem with Gardner I have is he’s gets more then 300 abs every year. Every year he’s signed as a 4th outfielder and then playing almost 162 games. I don’t wanna see him in the post season every no matter what. If they sign him it’s the same thing over and over and over to many abs and dead silence in the ps.
Sad day when they sign the 240 hitter for millions.
Every year this team does the same thing nothing.so much time worrying Gardner 240 hitter were is the good farm team i here about don’t sign him….
Every year the Yankees do the same thing nothing . So much time worrying about Gardner ( 240 ) it’s time to move on he’s not going to win you a World Series. Judge is the captain now .bring up the kid from the farm team…… wasting of millions on this guy don’t sign Gardner . 4 guy’s not signed yet why think about it….
Sad day if Yankees sign the 240 hitter for millions
More and more people are starting to have the same view as me. Signing this guy will be another like CC was last year. Gardner does not improve your chances of winning a WS and what’s he going to do bat last?
So you mean to tell me the Yankees are in dire need for a 9th place hitter?
What the latest on this piece of post season poop? We fans gotta watch this 240 hitter for 162 game games?