Yankees: Four players with value who should be traded

Brett Gardner

Presently, the Yankees find themselves with a left fielder with new found power who has hit more home runs in May than Aaron Judge. Which probably makes him a prime candidate to make the “let’s test him” list that is supposed to be random, but is not.

Brett Gardner is having a career year from the standpoint of being a power hitting outfielder. In a quarter of the 2017 season, he’s hit nine home runs which put him on pace to hit at least 30 home runs by the end of the year. He’s never hit more than 17 in a season (2014).

Gardner’s .280 batting average and .370 on-base percentage are also respectable. So, what’s there for another team not to like?

The thing with Gardner is that his trade value is not likely to be this high ever again. He’s on a tear, but he’s still Brett Gardner who, at the age of 33 is not likely to have found the magic potion that completely overturns his previous performances as a major league ballplayer.

Nevertheless, if the Yankees want to cash in on his new found success, there is no time better than the present. Because in any deal, you want value in return for value and Gardner can deliver that.

To make a deal, the Yankees would need to consider salary issues and perhaps eat a small portion of the money that is due to Gardner for the remainder of his contract, which is not that much regarding today’s baseball dollars.

With a team buyout of $2 million scheduled for 2019, or not maybe depending on how long he can keep this going, the remainder of his 2017 salary, and all of 2018, Gardner represents an expenditure of about $20 million for a team that would like to retain his services.

Pitching is what the Yankees have an immediate need for, and Gardner can get you that.

Having said that, Gardner is the type of player who will not be missed until he’s gone, especially this year when he’s taken on the needed role of providing veteran leadership for the team.

Sometimes though, you have to give up something to get something.