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Yankees: What the Greg Allen trade means for Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 17: Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees is held back by Marcus Thames #62, Reggie Willits #50 and Mike Tauchman #39 of the New York Yankees as he argues with the umpire Todd Tichenor after Gardner was ejected for banging a bat on the dugout roof complaining about the umpiring in an MLB baseball game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City on August 17, 2019. Yankees won 6-5. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 17: Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees is held back by Marcus Thames #62, Reggie Willits #50 and Mike Tauchman #39 of the New York Yankees as he argues with the umpire Todd Tichenor after Gardner was ejected for banging a bat on the dugout roof complaining about the umpiring in an MLB baseball game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City on August 17, 2019. Yankees won 6-5. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

What does the Greg Allen trade mean for the Yankees outfield?

During one of the craziest days in American history, the New York Yankees somehow managed to make a noteworthy transaction, acquiring outfielder Greg Allen from the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor league pitcher James Reeves. It’s not a monumental deal, but it does have some implications.

Allen was added to the 40-man roster on Wednesday, which now has us wondering what’s going on with free agent Brett Gardner and incumbent fourth outfielder Mike Tauchman. Allen certainly isn’t better than either of those guys, but it’s clear the Yankees are prioritizing his ability to hit from both sides of the plate in addition to his speed (he had 21 stolen bases in 91 games back in 2018). But since then he hasn’t done a whole lot.

Nonetheless, this does seemingly complicate things for Gardy and Tauch.

Most importantly, what’s going on with Gardy? We got a free agent update on him a little while back suggesting that both sides were hoping a deal would get done this offseason, but since then the Yankees have added Allen and Socrates Brito, though the latter was signed to a minor league deal. Nonetheless, there’s an apparent desire to stock up on outfielders.

It doesn’t matter if the Yankees are spending small here. They can’t keep possibly adding guys out there. And with Clint Frazier already established in left field and Tauchman under club control for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to envision the Yankees bringing Gardy back to create more of a logjam (unless they really don’t trust the team to stay healthy).

At least that’s what it feels like.

As for Tauchman, the last update we have on him is general manager Brian Cashman telling the media that he’s received a ton of trade interest in the veteran. Though he didn’t elaborate upon whether those calls were being entertained or not, it’s not out of the question to imagine Tauchman being traded for a pitcher. In this scenario, Gardy coming back would make sense.

Then again, where is Tauchman’s value? He followed up his sensational 2019 with a poor 2020, and though the shortened 60-game season was an inaccurate representation of almost everyone’s value, whether good or bad, opposing general manager will certainly use that small sample size against the Yankees to gain trade leverage. So perhaps those “calls” were an effort to buy low on Tauch, and Cashman promptly hung up the phone.

We know, a lot of information to digest here, but it’s worth discussing the Yankees outfield situation and how many more bodies they can realistically add when they have DJ LeMahieu and starting pitching to worry about, both of which are of paramount importance.

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