Should the Yankees Trade Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury?

With so many Triple-A outfielders knocking on the door, it’s becoming increasingly clear the New York Yankees need to trade either Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury.

At some point this offseason, the New York Yankees front office needs to sit down and sort out the glut of MLB-ready outfielders they have in the upper minors. There are only so many spots on the major league roster, but several of these guys are in danger of stagnating if they are left in the minor leagues for another season.

The Yankees got the most important move out of the way by handing rightfield over to Aaron Judge for the foreseeable future. That was the right call and should be written in stone for 2017 assuming he stays healthy.

The team’s other two starting outfield spots are going to expensive veterans Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner. While they both have excellent track records, neither has been better than average this year. As they enter their mid-30’s and their speed begins to decline, things could get real ugly in a hurry.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Mets stealing New York Post’s entire Yankees offseason plan is hilarious
• Predicting Yankees-Diamondbacks LF trade package after Ken Rosenthal update
• Yankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signing
• Aaron Judge’s ‘breadcrumbs’ showed he was never leaving Yankees, has more moves in mind
• Creating a Yankees-Bryan Reynolds trade package after latest Pirates update

Moving at least one of these guys this winter to open up a regular spot for another young outfielder seems like a must this winter. The question is, which one?

Brett Gardner has been rumored to be on the trade block since last winter, but the reasons he has trade value are also the reasons the Yankees could consider keeping him. He has handily outproduced Ellsbury offensively each of the last two years. Here’s a look at their 2016 batting lines:

Gardner: .263/.351/.378 (99 wRC+) with seven home runs and 13 steals.

Ellsbury: .263/.326/.361 (86 wRC+) with four home runs and 17 steals.

More from Yankees News

• Mets stealing New York Post’s entire Yankees offseason plan is hilarious
• Yankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signing
• Aaron Judge’s ‘breadcrumbs’ showed he was never leaving Yankees, has more moves in mind
• Yankees analyst Cameron Maybin projects surprise landing spot for Gary Sánchez
• Yankees swipe intriguing minor-league FA lefty flamethrower from Braves

The major defensive metrics show Ellsbury is the better defender, although Gardner’s numbers may be hurt by having to defer to the speedy Ellsbury in left.

Gardy is owed just $23 million over the next two seasons with a team option for 2019, which is a bargain compared to the four years and $89.4 million owed to Ellsbury.

It’s possible the Yankees could get something in return for Gardner this winter, although they reportedly haven’t found much serious interest in his services dating back to last winter.

Moving Ellsbury would have to be a straight salary dump, or a trade of bad contracts. Maybe an overpaid starting pitcher might make sense?

Unless the Yankees take on a significant commitment in return, they are going to have to eat as much as $40 million to move Ellsbury, which may be a non-starter as long as he resembles something close to a MLB regular.

The sheer number of talented outfielders pushing for a spot on the roster may force the Yankees hand this winter. It’s possible they could opt to trade one of the young guys instead, although none aside from Clint Frazier have a ton of value.

If I had Hal Steinbrenner’s ear, I’d convince him to swap Ellsbury for a starter on a bad contract, move Gardy to a part-time role, and let Frazier, Mason Williams, Ben Gamel, Rob Refsnyder, Tyler Austin, and Aaron Hicks fight it out for the two outfield spots next spring and into the season.