The Yankees Should Not Resign Brett Gardner
In the last few days, rumors have been swirling that the New York Yankees are in talks to bring a veteran outfielder back for his 13th season in pinstripes. It would be a mistake. The Yankees should not resign Brett Gardner.
I get the temptation, I really do. Brett Gardner is coming off a 4 WAR season, a great bounce-back from a shaky 2018. He set career highs in homers with 28, RBIs with 74, and OPS with .829. He also hit 26 doubles and started 141 games for a team that spent essentially the entire season missing its project started left fielder, center fielder, or both.
But do we really think the soon to be 36 year old is going to replicate that kind of success? I grant that Brett Gardner is a much better player than his 1 All Star appearance and 1 Gold Glove indicate- in fact, his 4 win 2019 season was actually the 5th best of his career, he was worth 7 wins in 2010 and more than 4 in 2011, 2013, and 2017, per Baseball Reference- but at this point, with just 10 stolen bases last year, the formerly speedy centerfielder is now a power first hitter. Are we sure he’s capable of doing that again?
Yes, home run power is at all time high in baseball likely thanks in large part to the ball, but Brett Gardner is still not exactly the type of player you think of when you think 30 home run potential and if the MLB does quietly address the baseball, maybe by going full time to the de-juiced ball they furtively used in the postseason, something tells me Brett is going to turn back into a pumpkin pretty quick.
But an anecdotal ‘are we sure he’s good?’ argument isn’t my main point for why the Yankees should finally part ways with their scrappy outfielder- it’s space and opportunity cost.
Right now, with normal centerfielder Aaron Hicks sidelined for most or all of next season, the Yankees have Aaron Judge entrenched in right field. He will, and should, play every game out there assuming he’s healthy.
The team also has Luke Voit as a primary first basemen/ secondary DH, Gary Sanchez as a primary catcher / secondary DH, Giancarlo Stanton as equal parts left fielder/ DH, and Gio Urshela and Miguel Andujar in some combination at third base.
There’s also Mike Tauchman, the scrap heap outfielder the Yankees picked up last spring who posted a 3.4 WAR in 87 games and can play any outfield position.
Finally, we must discuss the big, red haired elephant in the room- Clint Frazier. Frazier is formerly one of baseball’s top prospects and has the potential to be one of baseball’s most dynamic young outfielder. Thing is, he’s now going to be 25 and, through a combination of streaky performance, expensive talent ahead of him on the depth chart, and very poorly timed injuries, has yet to get consistent, meaningful at bats at the big league level.
Is Clint Frazier a major league caliber starter? Sure, his defense has been atrocious but it sure seems like it. Thing is though, we just don’t know.
It seems a lot like we’re headed for a Frazier for a mid-tier starting pitcher trade only to watch Clint blossom into an All Star for the Giants or whoever when he finally gets regular at bats.
The Yankees need to give Clint Frazier a real, genuine, long shot to win and hold down a big league job. Anything else would be a total waste.
Here’s my proposal for getting the most talent in the lineup at any given time:
Judge is the right fielder. Done.
Gleyber Torres is at short and DJ LeMahieu plays second. Obviously, fine.
Voit plays most games at first, assuming he hits. But if he doesn’t and Andujar comes back strong, Andujar gets a lot of time at first base too.
Urshela is the starting third baseman, assuming he replicates his success from last season. That’s no sure thing as 2018 was a total outlier for him but Andujar is the insurance policy. They split time as appropriate.
Stanton is the regular left fielder. Giancarlo was a starting right fielder in the National Leauge every season until he came to New York. Was he great? No, he wasn’t. But he was passable! And left field at Yankee stadium isn’t exactly the most challenging place to play in the league. He can hold his own out there, especially since I have him splitting time with Frazier.
Yup, Frazier and Tauchman fill in until Hicks comes back as the third and fourth outfielders. Add in Zach Granite, who the team picked up as a free agent already this offseason, and maybe Cameron Maybin, who played very well for the Yanks last year, and you’ve got a really good unit until Hicks is healthy.
My proposal is that every day, Aaron Boone fills out his outfield with the hot hands, and makes defensive substitutions for Granite/ Maybin fairly aggressively. This likely means that Tauchman gets a bunch of time in centerfield, but that seems fine. It might even include Judge spending a little time in center with Frazier in left and Stanton in right, I’m cool with that.
If it gives Clint Frazier more of a chance and still puts the best lineup on the field, it’s a good outcome- and paying and playing 36 year old Brett Gardner every day precludes that possibility.
There’s one other thing I think the Yankees should strongly consider for 2020 and it’s a little outside the box.
You may have noticed that my lineup proposals above don’t include a DH. That’s because my primary DH is … Gary Sanchez!
Yes, Sanchez has made great strides behind the plate, he was a ton better in 2019 than he was the year before, but he’s still not good, he’s still in there for his offense, no matter how strong his throwing arm is.
Plus, the more time he spends catching, the more likely he is to get hurt, or at the very least beat up to the point that it impacts his hitting.
I say Sanchez becomes the primary DH and Brian Cashman goes out and gets legitimate catcher to partner him with- someone better than Austin Romine. How about free agent Robinson Chirinos?
Chirinos hit 17 bombs last year, starting 114 games for the Astros, so you know he can start on a really good team. While we can’t be sure how well he’ll hit without someone banging a trash can on every breaking ball, he’s a good defensive catcher that pitchers love to throw to. If he starts 90 games behind the plate and Sanchez starts 72, I think things will work out pretty well.
Basically, the Yankees have 2 choices- sign a veteran outfielder who will block a top prospect and for whom they have a decent internal alternative. Or sign a veteran catcher who will allow their franchise cornerstone to stay healthier and produce more, while also allowing their potential star prospects to blossom.
-Max Frankel
