New York Yankees News: Brett Gardner Is an All-Star Value

Most of us probably know by now that New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner is an All-Star, but according to Forbes.com he is also an “All-Star bargain.” In an article this week Josh Benjamin compares Gardner to a handful of players with similar skills and claims he is outperforming them for less money.

Gardner signed a four-year $52 million dollar contract extension before the 2014 season. He is making $12 million dollars this year. Gardner is a speedy player solid plate discipline who hits to contact with limited power. He also plays a high level defense and steals bases. Gardner would have entered the free agent market before this season and arguably would have been made offers that topped the extension Brian Cashman inked him too.

Benjamin compares Gardner to New York Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and the Texas Rangers left fielder Shin-Soo Choo and Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus. Gardner is batting .303 with 10 home runs, 40 RBI and 15 steals, and also owns a respectable OBP of .381. That OBP ranks him 15th in all of baseball. He has anchored the top of the order this season batting second or leadoff. He has also proven to be a good outfielder with a reliable arm and good range. He has registered 42 outfield assists in his eight seasons in the outfield.

Ellsbury might be the player most like Gardner from this list. Ellsbury signed a contract with the Yankees prior to 2014 for seven-years $153 million and will make $21.1 million dollars this season. His game is very similar to Gardner’s. He is a center fielder, his batting average is higher, and he steals more bases. But he has also missed the last seven weeks with an injury. Ellsbury’s season numbers are similar to Gardner’s .321 OBP .408 and 14 SB.

Shin-Soo Choo is a left fielder, like Gardner, and like Ellsbury, he signed free agent contract for seven-years $130 million and will make $14 million this season. His numbers are less impressive than either Gardner or Ellsbury batting .230 with a .310 OBP and has only stolen 2 bases this year.

Elvis Andrus is not an outfielder but is a speedy player with a similar batting style and a top of the order player. He signed an eight-year, $120 million extension in 2013. Andrus has stolen 78 bases but hit just .261 with an OBP of .316, plus just nine home runs and a mere 136 RBI.

When comparing Gardner to players around the league with similar skill sets, he is a good value. He is playing at equal or higher level than players with similar skill sets but doing it for less money. This season, Gardner has also emerged as a team leader. His baseball skills are not the only attribute that makes Gardner an All-Star. He also brings what many people used to refer to as the “intangibles.” In this case, Gardner’s teammates think he is valuable enough that they acted a little bit silly this week in hopes of getting Gardner onto the 2015 All-Star team.

You could say that his teammates wanted to “be like Gardy” as they donned latex “bald caps” with the words “#Vote Gardy” on them this week to show their support for Gardner (who shaves his head) in his short-lived Final Vote campaign. Gardner said he didn’t really want too much attention and would really rather not campaign for his spot on the All-Star team, but his teammates valued the speedy outfielder enough to look a little silly.

Luckily, Gardner was selected to the team by Manager Ned Yost as a replacement for the injured Alex Gordon and the team and Gardner was spared from any further gimmicks the Yankees public relations team may have dreamt up.

New York Yankees News: Brett Gardner Is an All-Star Value

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