Brett Gardner was positioned to be one of the top free agents in next year's class, but he's no longer on the market. The Yankees officially announced today that they have signed the Pro Star Management client to a four-year extension with a club option for a fifth season. Gardner's new deal begins in the 2015 season and is reportedly worth $52MM. He receives a $2MM signing bonus and will earn $12MM in 2015, $13MM in 2016, $12MM in 2017 and $11MM in 2018. The 2019 club option is worth $12.5MM and contains a $2MM buyout.
"It's something that's been in the works for a little while," Gardner said (as quoted by Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News). "I made it known to them that I wanted to stay here and be a part of this. I learned from guys that come from other places that there's no better place to play, so I look forward to staying here and helping the team win."
Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters, including Curry (Twitter links ), negotiations began with agent Joe Bick during the Winter Meetings and was hopeful something could be worked out because the 30-year-old was one of the Yankees' best players last season.
"I like what he brings — the speed dynamic, the defense and I think the offense is there as well," Cashman said (as quoted by MLB.com's Joey Nowak). "Although he's going to be playing left field most of the time for us, I think he's one of the better leadoff/center fielders that this game can provide."
Cashman also said some contract language still needs to be ironed out, but the extension is a done deal (via Curry's Twitter feed). ESPN's Buster Olney tweets Michael Bourn's four-year, $48MM deal with the Indians a year ago was a comparable used during negotiations.
Gardner will make $5.6MM in 2014, his final season before free agency eligibility. His future with the Yankees briefly seemed to be in doubt after the Yankees acquired Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran this offseason, as there were plenty of rumors that the Yankees might trade him. In late December, however, the Yankees said they had "absolutely no intention" of trading Gardner, and this deal reveals their high level of commitment to him. That high level committment, however, does not involve a no-trade clause. Curry tweets Gardner asked about no-trade protection, but the Yankees did not want to do it.
Gardner's extension removes him from the free agent corner outfield market next offseason. Gardner agruably would have headlined the group, which, per MLBTR's 2015 Free Agents list, could include Michael Cuddyer, Norichika Aoki, Josh Willingham, Torii Hunter and Melky Cabrera.
The YES Network's Jack Curry first reported (on Twitter) that the two sides were nearing a four-year, $52MM contract, and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that the agreement had been reached. Heyman also tweeted the yearly breakdown, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post adding that Gardner would receive a $1MM bonus if traded.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Edward Creech and Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Good deal, well deserved for BG. Not sure why so many Yankees fan aren’t high on him, but I enjoy watching him. Gritty player, plays hard and is definitely a favorite of mine. Love it.
If I were a Yankee fan I’d be at least a little cautious about a corner OF with a career 97 OPS+
A speedster with excellent defense and a 101 career wRC+, which includes a 54-wRC+ and 91-wRC+ campaign from 2008 and 2009, is a great buy for 4/52. He’s been 112, 97, 127, 108 in wRC+ since 2010, which paints the picture of an average-or-better hitter with excellent defense and excellent baserunning, or, you know, 14.1 fWAR in his last three healthy seasons, not including his 37 PA 2012 campaign.
His offense is actually pretty solid. He is a strong cfer, that got pushed to the corner.
Don’t be surprised if NY sends him back in another year-2. Yes.. Ells has a GG and some thinks hes good. Me? I think he gets average to worse reads on balls, especially on ones hit at him. IMO? Gardner is better on games I’ve seen of him and always thought Crisp was better than Ells, just Crisp had a rotten throwing arm.
NY will have Ells out there the 1st year of course, but wouldn’t put it past them sticking Gardner back in 2015 after his shortcomings are spotted in that large CF in 2015.
I just don’t understand the Ellsbury signing. I would have rather they kept Gardner in center and find a short term replacement for a corner spot, which is a lot easier, and cheaper.
Then maybe we could have kept Cano. =/
How does taking away a 7 year 150M dollar deal mean they could sign Cano to a 10 240M dollar deal?
Cano priced himself out of being a Yankee, that is completely his prerogative, just as it was the Yankees to walk away and sign someone else for less money.
You’re assuming the Yankees would offer 240m. The original offer on the table by the Ms was 9/225m. I think if the Yankees had offered 8/~200m, it would have gotten it done. And if the Ms were offering more, Yanks could have pushed it to 9 years, and Cano would have stayed. There is a lot more money to be made playing in the marketing capital of the world… than Seattle.
My main concern is… I don’t understand what value system the Yanks used that valued Ellsbury at 153m, and Cano at 175m, when Cano is a vastly superior player at a much more premium position. A position of need, btw: CF wasn’t a necessity, 2B was and is.
teams can’t win if they look at only this year. with gardner, soriano, ichiro all off the books at the end of this year they would have NEEDED to sign gardner and find 2 more ofr’s next off season. ells took away gardners strong bargaining situation and gave the team security in their line up.
cano is not a vastly superior player to ells. 2b is not a more premium position than cf. i predict that cano will not top ells in any offensive category next year.
“i predict that cano will not top ells in any offensive category next year.”
Great prediction, unless you look at the facts, which show that Cano has had a higher AVG, HR total, RBIs, Runs, OBP, SLG, OPS than Ellsbury in the past two years. And that little important stat called Games Played. Basically, any stat besides Steals, Cano has the upper hand. Higher wRC+ and WAR, the two most important offensive summarizing categories. Cano even has a better BB% than Ellsbury.
Lastly, don’t know if you’re aware, but most of the prized prospects in the Yankees farm are all OFs. There isn’t a viable MLB projectable 2B anywhere. Gumbs will not cut it.
/reality
just because they are yankee top prospects doesn’t mean that they are going to do anything. to be honest i don’t think any of their of are going to be anything more than a 4th of at best.
and if cano was still in ny and ells in boston i would bet that the numbers would be in cano’s favor. they aren’t. cano’s power will be swallowed up in seatle. ells will be boosted in ny.
See, the thing is.. a lot of advanced stats take park factors into consideration. So wRC+ doesn’t care if Cano plays half of his games in Safeco or the Bronx. So, once again, your argument is just not valid.
Also, for irony, Gardner was once a Yankees prospect. It’s the one thing they’re good at, developing outfielders.
Just saying.
i was not saying that they couldn’t develop of. i was saying that being a top yankee prospect right now doesn’t mean much. their minor league system is less than weak right now. few of their top 10 would be on other teams top 25.
taking park factors into consideration is great. but saying that cano is better than ells independent of the park isn’t the point. ells will be better than cano partialy because he is in ny and cano is in seatlle.
taking ny vs. seatle into consideration is more than just the park. cano was not a good long term investment for many reasons. it will be interesting to see how he does in the environment.
Once again, you do not understand the metric. Cano is a much better offensive player, which we know by any measurable [weighted] statistic. If Cano played on Mars and Ellsbury on Venus, we can still figure out who the better player is. And that player is Cano, by a lot. That is my point.
You can fool yourself into believing otherwise, but I will always go with the facts and figures rather than “what you feel.”
And about the farm system, they are not “less than weak,” as you say. They are middle of the pack. I feel like I’m educating you rather than debating points. So with that being said, Mason Williams, an OF, would be on a lot of other teams’ top 10, not just top 25.
teams can’t win if they look at only this year. with gardner, soriano, ichiro all off the books at the end of this year they would have NEEDED to sign gardner and find 2 more ofr’s next off season. ells took away gardners strong bargaining situation and gave the team security in their line up.
cano is not a vastly superior player to ells. 2b is not a more premium position than cf. i predict that cano will not top ells in any offensive category next year.
But the Yanks also resigned Kuroda while signing Tanaka, Beltrán, McCann, and Ellsbury. Every single one of those contracts is shorter than CanĂł signed and also shorter than the Yankees had already offered him. In general, $200 million contracts don’t work out and the Yankees were smart to avoid another one. Beltrán and McCann have relatively short contracts, Ellsbury’s is significantly less money than CanĂł was asking for, and Tanaka’s 25. You really can’t blame the Yanks for making that decision.
Good points. Not to mention, Cano is as durable as they come.
It was probably the number of years rather than the per annum salary that turned off the Yankees.
Yeah, Ellsbury’s a nice player and all but he just wasn’t a need at all. They had much bigger needs at IF, SP, and the bullpen. Beltran made more sense to me. A guy you can also DH to keep fresh, who is a proven postseason hitter. Ellsbury was just not needed especially if you were planning on keeping Gardner all along.
And with Cano, this Kevin Long stuff doesn’t surprise me. He gave up a lot of bats by going through the motions and didn’t run out everything he hit. I think the Yanks figured if we give this guy a ton of money, he might become even more lackadaisical.
Ellsbury should provide much more value than Beltran over the next 3 years, he can actually accrue value on the bases and on defense, Beltran is bat only and 37.
I’m not questioning who’s the better player. I’m saying to give a guy $150 million he should fit a need especially when the Yankees were looking to get under the luxury tax. They didn’t NEED Ellsbury, especially when they were gonna keep Gardner. Now you’re giving Gardner $52 million to bat 9th. Beltran fits better in my opinion. He’s a proven postseason hitter and is only signed for three years. Ellsbury will be 37 when his deal expires which for a guy who relies on his legs for a lot of his game is old. Not to mention he has not proven consistently to stay healthy. When healthy, I’m not arguing he brings more value than Beltran. But I don’t think he fits better.
This would be a valid argument if Ellsbury was signed to a 3 year deal. He isn’t.
It’s obvious Ellsbury will provide more value in his first few years. He better. All fee agents are expected to provide the most value in the first half of their long term contracts. If he can’t even hold up to 37 year old Beltran, it makes the deal look that much worse.
Don’t underestimate Beltan’s leadership and clubhouse presence. He may not be much of an outfielder anymore, but that doesn’t make him “bat only.”
I agree with your first paragraph and disagree strongly with the second paragraph.
I think YES Network did a fine job painting Cano as a slacker as he was approaching free agency to drive down his price for themselves, and also to protect themselves against any backlash if he did not re-sign.
Cano has always been this way. He doesn’t leg out obvious outs. Most fans do not have a problem with this, because he is a great player otherwise. I personally don’t care if he is out at first in the box or half down the line. He didn’t slack off on defense. If so, that would be a problem for me.
It’s just funny that this became a talking point as he was approaching free agency, and not when he was carrying the team on his back the past few years. How convenient.
Hey, I’m not privileged enough to be on the YES Network sharing my opinion but I’ve always thought this. Well before last season. When things aren’t going Cano’s way, he has a knack to give up at bats. Just swing at the first pitch he sees, put his head down and jog it out. I love Cano’s talents. I think he has the sweetest swing in baseball and when he’s on, there’s not a more dangerous hitter. But he does get lazy. And there has to be concern when throwing over $200 million to a guy like that. There’s no way a guy get’s paid what he did and all of a sudden works harder than he was before. I’m not saying he doesn’t care. And I’m not saying it’s the end of the world that he doesn’t run hard every play. But someone has to step up when Jeter retires and be a leader. Robbie, if he stayed, would have been one of those guys that young players look to. And I don’t know if he has those leadership qualities. I had a feeling the Yankees were going to let Cano walk from the very start.
There’s just something about Robbie’s mentality. I can’t put my finger on it. Look at his postseason #’s. Way too low for a guy with Robbie’s talents. And the Home Run Derby in Kansas City. I know, I know, it’s the Home Run Derby who cares. But there’s something about his mentality that isn’t perfect and I think the Yankees knew it.
and where was he carrying them? he is not the kind of guy who can lead a team to a championship and as such isn’t worth near the commitment he was given.
No one player can. This is common sense. Maybe one player can lead a team to the championship in basketball, but not baseball.
If he ran out everything and didn’t swing at pitches way out of the zone (particularly when he has two strikes), Cano would hit .340
Yeah, Ellsbury’s a nice player and all but he just wasn’t a need at all. They had much bigger needs at IF, SP, and the bullpen. Beltran made more sense to me. A guy you can also DH to keep fresh, who is a proven postseason hitter. Ellsbury was just not needed especially if you were planning on keeping Gardner all along.
And with Cano, this Kevin Long stuff doesn’t surprise me. He gave up a lot of bats by going through the motions and didn’t run out everything he hit. I think the Yanks figured if we give this guy a ton of money, he might become even more lackadaisical.
I agree. I would of much rather them retain Cano then do all of those little contracts for guys who will platoon at 2nd. I thought that they may have signed Beltran and had an OF of Ichiro, Gardner, Beltran with Soriano DHing
you need to have two guys on your roster who can man cf for long stretches. and did you happen to look at next years free agent market for of? ells was a good signing partialy because after he was signed the yankees could look gardner in the eye and say that he could go if the $’s weren’t to their liking.
C’mon man, you’re too smart to suggest that CF is a shallower market than 2B. How about you take your own advice and check out the 2B market for next year and years to come. Then look at OFs. Yeah, exactly.
And are you actually suggesting that Gardner, as in Brett Gardner, was going to hold the Yankees hostage for big money?
So using your logic, they paid a guy 150m to make sure another guy on their team can’t ask for 60m? How does that make ANY sense? And to top it off, they signed both! haha
post 2b have a history of aging poorly- especially post drug enhancement. they have limited options to move off the position. 2b is a place that can be filled in or guys can move to from ss.
had the yankees gone in to next off season with an of of ichero, gardner, beltran and soriano they would have needed to fill all but right. gardner would have been the top of on the market. and they would have had to sign him and another. he could have gotten more $ and more years as a free agent in that situation.
and no. they realized that 2b is not a premium position and spread their money out on multiple positions to make the team better.
Nobody moves from SS to 2B unless you’re a utility IF. It’s usually SS to 3B.
Second, next year, Yankees would go into the season with Beltran and Gardner. Ichiro and Soriano would be FA. Do some research. And like I said in my earlier post, a LF would be a lot easier to find compared to a 2B. Especially in next years free agency class.
They realized 2B is not a premium position? Uhh… okay. I think you’re alone on that one. If the Yankees felt that way, they wouldn’t have offered Cano 175m. haha
Losing Canó was a smart move. I applaud Cashman for spending the money on Tanaka, McCann, Ellsbury, and Beltrán. The four of them are easily better than Canó would have been and give the team far more financial flexibility.
At the same time, I was absolutely shocked that the Mariners gave CanĂł that much money – Nick Franklin is half the player at 1/40th the cost per year.
I’m not against Tanaka and Beltran. I think Russell Martin would be a better pick up (last year) on a multiple year deal than McCann. Ellsbury, I think it’s clear I’m not a fan of.
With that being said, I think you’re over simplifying. It’s not like the decision was either sign Cano, or sign these 4 players. They could have had a mixture including Tanaka, Cano, and others.
Personally, I think the Yankees gave Ellsbury tens of millions of dollars more than he was worth just to lure him away from the Sox.
Makes me wish the Ms signed Ells. That would keep Cano in the Bronx, and it would help me in the free agent prediction contest haha.
The numbers also suggest Gardner might very well be the best defensive left fielder in all of baseball, he’s worth the money even in the corner.
Yeah his speed is very good
Somewhat surprising to see. Gardner does get financial security, but he also passed up a chance to get a big deal since he will be fairly old by the end of this deal. If he continues to put up 4 WAR seasons, this will be a great deal for the Yankees.
Yes, I think he could have got more, but this is a fine deal for him financially. He is set for life. Some players really want to play for a certain team.
Agreed. It’s refreshing to hear a player during these times refer to 52MM dollars as “a lot of money”, which it absolutely is. Other players out there still hold out for the last penny, even if they’ve got 100+ million secured. I also liked Jered Weaver’s conference after he signed his deal with the Angels. Said that even his grandkids would be set, and he was absolutely right.
“Free agency is something that, it kind of intrigued me, and it also kind of scared me,” Gardner said. “It’s probably the biggest decision I ever had to make in my life. I put a lot of thought into it, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot of money.
“Where I come from, that money or twice that much money, I’m not going to change the way I live my life.”
2 prime years, 2 decent years for a guy who can run, play defense and a good club house guy. I like it.
Good for Gardner. I’ve always liked him. I just hope he steals more than 24 bases next year.
Brett Gardner should be a yankee for life.
Wow, not what I expected. But glad to see it. He’s a solid player who does a lot of things well.
Similar to Michael Bourn’s deal, and I personally think Gardner is the better player. Fair for both sides?
Granted Gardner will be a year older than when Bourn signed his. Is great deal since salaries have gone up since then.
From college walk-on to 4 years $52M from the Yankees. Congrats Gardy!
He worked hard to get where he is. Wasn’t even a top rated prospect either.
Love it. Brett Gardner is downright fun to watch play, he works the count, plays every game with intensity, and he carried the team at times last year.
The deal also has no no-trade clause, which means he could be a good trade candidate should the need arise, though I would rather it not.
If I had to guess, this probably means that the Yankees are going to let Soriano walk. The OF is crowded and they need the open DH spot for Beltran, McCann, Teixeira, and A-Rod
It was rumored that Soriano is going to retire after this year
You got your wish with your favorite player and the extension.
Second though! Jeter will always be #1 until he retires.
Ahh.. Ok. Gotta go with the great ones.. I fully am with you there 🙂
Soriano already said he ‘might retired.’ No way he comes back to NY.
Soriano is almost 40. No reason to count on him to be part of the team past next season.
Teix isn’t that old plus isn’t he the only 1st baseman on the depth chart?
He may not be that old but he’s physically wearing down and his bat his regressed a ton, plus I imagine next year will start McCann’s slow transition to 1B.
Teix just basically had a year off of rest. He’ll be fine,
I wouldn’t call rehab and surgery a “year off of rest” in fact he’s still feeling stiffness in his wrist and still hasn’t taken live pitching yet.
I wouldn’t call rehab and surgery a “year off of rest” in fact he’s still feeling stiffness in his wrist and still hasn’t taken live pitching yet.
He has injury history. Would you rather him DHing once a week or out for an entire season again?
I really don’t think there was a chance the Yankees resigned Soriano after this year even if they didn’t sign Gardner to the extension. He’ll be 39, barely can play defense, and the Yanks like to keep the DH spot open.
He’s definitely worth this amount. I checked out COTs and this move would put Yanks over the Luxury Tax threshold for next year already now along with Arods $22m they have to pay in 2015. Nothing the Yankees aren’t use to doing!
He would only make about 60M in arb. 90M for 2 FA years is a ton.
I think the goal was to get under this year and reset it. If they’re not resetting it, I doubt they’re going to care in future seasons.
A-Rod needs 6 HRS and Yanks owe him 30 Million. He needs 660 and bonus kicks in.
That’s not when he gets the full bonus. He gets $6 million for each of the milestone HR’s (660, 714, 755, 762 (tying the record) and 763(breaking the record)).
But let’s be honest, the only one he has a chance at is 660.
His HR bonuses do not count towards the luxury tax.
They are around $160M for 2015. That is under the $189M for now.
Great deal! LOve Gardy, he plays hard and I would guess he’s great to have in the clubhouse. Great to know there will be at least one home grown yankee in the lineup. Maybe he’ll be the bridge between Jeter and the next great Yankee legend.
Good deal for the Yankees. I like it a lot. Gardner’s probably worth 52 MM from ’15-’18, but he’s also one of my favorite Yankees. I really like it.
That’s a lot of money for a guy that bases his game on speed, and he’s entering his 30s.
Crawford and Ellsbury, similar players, got 2.5x and 3x as much.
And each are terrible contracts. I think Gardner is a good player, but lets face it. He relies on his speed, and with him getting older he can only get slower. The good part is that the Yankees don’t have to commit to him in his late 30s.
“The good part is that the Yankees don’t have to commit to him in his late 30s.”
Which is why it’s a pretty good contract overall.
This might mean they are planning to go after Headley, Hanley, or Hardy next year to improve the infield and power because you can’t have 2 no power outfielders…unless you make up for the power somewhere else.
Just a thought 🙂
You can have two no power outfielders when you’ve got McCann, Teixeira, and Beltran providing some power, plus whatever you get out of A-Rod post-suspension. All that should matter is pure value added to the team.
Can’t rely on A – Rod plus Yankees will need to replace Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson because both are signed to 1 year deals.
Teixeira? The guy who slugged .438 against RHP in 2012? His power output is almost exclusively against LHP at this point.
Yes, Teixeira. The man who ISOed .199 against RHP in 2012 with 14 HR in 326 PA, which is like 26/600. That man. Yknow, that man who can still hit home runs.
Hitting home runs is far from the only measure of power, especially when you are hitting .239/.331/.438 against 3/4th of the league.
I am well aware of this. But ISO is still a far better measure of pure power than SLG (which I’m sure you know) so I don’t know why you cited the .438 figure and not the .199 figure. Teixeira’s issue isn’t not being able to hit for power against RHP in 2012. It’s not being able to get hits at all. He has power, he just can’t hit for average at all these days. I don’t think the guy I first responded to was talking about overall hitting ability, so I used HR & ISO. We could’ve thrown in doubles/triples too, but they’re more negligible.
I shouldn’t have implied he’s not providing power, that’s my bad. He’s still providing some power but when you look at a 3 or 4 year decline against RHP, wrist surgery, and compare his last healthy season of production against his position I just don’t think I’d be throwing him into the mix as far as making up for the lack of power in the outfield.
For the record his .199 ISO against RHP would’ve ranked him 13th last season ( a season with Cabrera at 3B), slightly ahead of Belt. Though I would probably put him below Belt since .197 ISO with SF as your home park is more impressive than .199 with YS3 as your home park. So in terms of pure power vs 3/4th of the league he’s around the 14th or 15th best first baseman in baseball. Not exactly top of the class, certainly not enough to provide adequate power at 1B and make up for the lack of power in LF.
All valid points. You are ignoring that he’s a switch hitter- he is much better against those righties. Power-wise, I’d have him in that 10-15 range among first basemen, I think. But the fact is he still provides some thump in that lineup. He did, after all, clobber 135 HR from ’09-’12. That’s no small amount.
He’s declining, he has injury concerns, his AVG is a ghost of his Texas days, but the one thing Tex can still do is hit homers.
I’m not forgetting that he’s a switch hitter, I’m pointing out that he’s a poor one at this point. He still provides plenty of power vs LHP as a right handed batter but unfortunately only 1/4th of the league is left handed so it simply doesn’t matter as much.
Power wise against RHP he’s no higher than the 13th and probably closer to the 15th best 1B in baseball, that’s not very productive regardless of which side of the plate you are batting to do it. Now if we add in his numbers against LHP he gets a pretty masive bump, but ultimately his hitting against RHP is what’s driving his value into the toilet.
I shouldn’t have implied he’s not providing power, that’s my bad. He’s still providing some power but when you look at a 3 or 4 year decline against RHP, wrist surgery, and compare his last healthy season of production against his position I just don’t think I’d be throwing him into the mix as far as making up for the lack of power in the outfield.
For the record his .199 ISO against RHP would’ve ranked him 13th last season ( a season with Cabrera at 3B), slightly ahead of Belt. Though I would probably put him below Belt since .197 ISO with SF as your home park is more impressive than .199 with YS3 as your home park. So in terms of pure power vs 3/4th of the league he’s around the 14th or 15th best first baseman in baseball. Not exactly top of the class, certainly not enough to provide adequate power at 1B and make up for the lack of power in LF.
I guess I don’t see how Gardner’s talent set is worth $10M+/yr.
Here’s the league average line for 2013:
BB%=7.9% / K%=19.9% / ISO=.143 / AVG=.253 / OBP=.318 / SLG=.396 / wOBA=.314
And here’s Gardner’s career line:
BB%=10.3% / K%=17.9% / ISO=.114 / AVG=.268 / OBP=.352 / SLG=.381 / wOBA=.329
Now he’s certainly better than league average, not appreciably across the board. Plus with Ellsbury on board, the positional bump to his WAR that he got for playing CF last season goes away…
.329 wOBA vs. .310 wOBA…. plus speed, plus defense. What are you missing? That’s exactly the Michael Bourn skillset. It’s not far from the Chone Figgins skillset which got 9 MM AAV several years ago, it’s close to the Coco Crisp skillset which got 11.4~ AAV for ages 35-36 or so. He’s appreciably above average in everything except raw power- hence, he’s worth the salaries above average players are getting, which 13 MM falls in line with. Johnny Damon, with a worse-defense/better-power skillset, got this exact deal nearly a decade ago.
Batting I guess isn’t particularly spectacular, but it’s above average. So above average hitting, baserunning, and defense shouldn’t make it hard to provide about 2 WAR/season which would justify 13MM/Year
He’s also easily better than a 2-win player. He’s probably close to a 3-win true talent player.
Woops, I meant provide “above” 2 WAR not about, guess I mixed the words in my head for a second or something when I wrote that last comment. Agree with you completely though, he should be a 2.5-4 for the deal barring disaster.
Add in the best defense in LF for anyone going back to 2003 as the numbers suggest and you get a better idea for the whole story.
Would love to see those “numbers” that suggest his stellar LF defense, because his UZR/150 last year was -0.3.
All of that was in CF. He didn’t play a single inning in LF last year.
Another slam dunk from my predictions. I always knew the speedster was worth $13MM AAV! Great deal for everybody. Made my day .
Gardner needs to find a new agent because he’s statistically identical to Ellsbury.
Really last time I checked Ellsbury has hit 30 hrs, been an All Star and stole 70 base. When did Gardner do that?
And Ellsbury hasn’t showed that he is capable of doing again.
If you’ve done it you get credit for being able to do it, Gardner hasn’t come close to what Ellsbury’s ceiling is. Now it’s unlikely Ellsbury will do it again but that’s on his resume.
That’s what we call an anomaly because he has not come close to that ever again.
Not those numbers no, Ellsbury did however SLG .460 against RHP in 2013 and moving to YS I could see him hitting 15+ HRs in a couple years of that deal.
I definitely see what you’re saying; however, Gardner doesn’t strike me as the guy that holds out for the last penny. So I’m sure that he’s perfectly happy with the 52MM.
Terrible deal for a marginal player. And I’m a Yankees fan, just terrible
Being a Yankee fan doesn’t make your comment any more true.
Only spoiled yankee fans, think Gardner is a marginal player…
This is why we still need down votes.
why did they take them away?
No idea.
Lol. Too much money for not that good a player. Only the Yankees. Nevertheless, good extension, but still a lot of money for a player who’s never been a stolen base champ, an All Star, won a gold glove or hit .300
He was tied with Coco Crisp for the league lead in stolen bases in 2011 with 49.
I stand corrected
Crisp has been under rated his entire career and for the most part? Under paid.
I feel like this comment is from the distant past, simply because that is the only feasible explanation for someone using those qualities to put a value on a player. Never mind the fact that this doesn’t even mention his defense, which Gardner will be playing far more of than he ever will be coming up to the plate for an at-bat.
Since the beginning of 2010, he has a higher WAR than Adam Jones, Justin Upton, Jay Bruce, Hunter Pence, Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson, Giancarlo Stanton, and Torii Hunter.
He plays gold glove quality defense, and could very well steal 35-40 bases this year.
Combined?
It’s worth noting you’re including a 6-win season that’s hardly repeatable in there, and you’re including, for guys like Adam Jones and Giancarlo Stanton, seasons before they broke out. Jones and Stanton are clearly not the same players they were in 2010. That said, Swisher, Granderson, Upton, and Hunter are nice comps. Similarly valuable players, and they all are under contract at current AAVs around 13-15 MM, counting just the 3/38 part of Upton’s deal that the Braves acquired, since the rest was arb-depressed..
That’s true, but it’s also including him missing essentially an entire season (although other players in that list also missed time of course). He should put up a 3.5-5 WAR this year if he’s back to full health.
That being said, injuries are somewhat of a concern when you have Gardner on your team (not that he’s made of glass or anything). 4 years is a pretty good length for the Yankees to have him signed for.
Definitely true about Stanton and Jones.
And most of those are meaningless things. He is a very valuable player, and this is a bargain.
Because clearly evaluation stops once you check off stolen base totals, all-star votes, gold glove votes, and hitting .300… Oh yeah that’s right that would be the worst way to evaluate any player ever.
Michael Bourn 4yrs/$48M… just for comparison
I think Bourn would’ve gotten more if he wasn’t attached to draft compensation.
is brett gardner really worth 4 years/$52 million?
honestly wondering if im just underrating him or something
The difference between his and Ellsbury’s value is less than 10 million per year in my opinion, so in that respect, relative to Ellsbury, he’s worth 13+ million per year.
They’ll probably both have On-Base percentages around .350, Ellsbury will likely get 3 or 4 more HRs, and I think Gardner, if he stays healthy, will steal around 30-35 this year (and Ellsbury should get 40-45).
Gardner’s also great defensively.
I think it’s a good signing.
Yes!
Especially when you look at the Ellbury deal.
Does Gardner get 10 & 5 rights at some point during this deal..?
He came up in 2008 so yes.
AWESOME
I was worried that Gardner would get more than that with the Ellsbury deal. Gardner is prob my favorite Yankee too.
Gardner could have likely gotten more had he decided to test free agency. I don’t see much of a difference between he and Ellsbury but somehow Ells will be making nearly 10 MM/yr more.
Ellsbury did have that 2011 year, and he runs a higher average whereas Gardner is more patient in taking walks. End of day though they are pretty close unless Ellsbury can recapture that.
I think he could have gotten more on the open market, but he gets to stay in NY. A great city, and he knows that he will be on a contender every year. Cano won’t, and Gardner I guess is happy in NY.
I mainly believe they’re pretty close because I see Ells’ 32/109 year as more of an aberration. Both are plus defenders whose offensive games are predicated on speed. Think Gardner could have gotten more from NYY in free agency, actually.
I think it was a lucky year too. I don’t see it again, but I do hope. Gardner could probably have gotten more, but who knows from who. He has stated that he wanted to stay with the Yankees, and if he really did this is great for him.
I’m not saying Ellsbury will hit 30 hrs or anything, but the porch could provide a nice boost to his annual averages.
he’s 10x better
That’s a gross overstatement.
maybe, but yankee fans trying to justify comparisons with Ellsbury are gross overvalueing Gardner. Good player but not elite.
Ellsbury is elite? I think they’re pretty comparable players. Don’t think Gardner is better, but I don’t think Ells is so much better than Gardner. Just check some of their numbers.
Ellsbury is an elite super athlete. Yank fans will see it this year. Ellsbury .298avg/.432slugg/.781ops
Gardner .268/.381/.733 kinda mediocre not close
Take away Ellsbury’s freaky 2011 and his slash line somewhat resembles Gardner’s. Even factoring in 2011, his WAR-if you subscribe to it-is barely better than Gardner’s. Ells’ Rdrs is almost a quarter of Gardner’s, although Ells has logged many more innings in the OF. I believe Gardner is closer to Ellsbury’s caliber than you think.
WAR is inaccurate because you don’t accumulate WAR if your injured. I guess you can ignore all of the stats I gave you. We agree to disagree. Think you will change your mind if you watch Ellsbury as a MFY this year. Good luck
Then we’ll do WAR per 162 games
Ellsbury – 5.4
Gardner – 4.7
Ellsbury is better but not by a whole lot.
Best move the Yanks have made in a long time. No doubt Cashman had nothing to do with it.
And who was in charge of it?
The Steinbrenners?
If it was a smart move that’s also fiscally responsible, it probably didn’t originate in Cashman’s head.
Yes, because Hal, Hank and Levine are wizards when it comes to contract offers. Just look at their magnificent work in ARod, Soriano and Ichiro’s contract.
You do realize that the Rafael Soriano contract, second Arod contract, and signing Ichiro over Russell Martin are all proven to be Hal/Hank/Levine going over Cashman’s head on deals he didn’t want right?
You do realize that the Boss tried multiple times to get Stick Michael to trade Pettitte and he flat out refused, right?
You do realize that George originally wanted to send Jeter down to the minors at the beginning of ’96 and Stick recommended against that, right?
You do realize that George wanted to trade Mo for David Wells in ’95 and Stick resisted, right?
You do realize that Cashman acquired such scintillating successes as Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, AJ Burnett, Kei Igawa, Jeff Weaver, Denny Neagle, and Randy Johnson, right?
You do realize that Cashman nixed a trade for Cliff Lee because he didn’t want to give up Eduardo Nunez, right?
You do realize that Cashman has been on the job for 16 years and hasn’t built a viable farm system in that time, right?
Nothing but whiny excuses for Cashman’s incompetence. The high placings mean resultant low draft picks! George made me do it! The Steinbros butthurt me so I’m going to start a whisper campaign in the press to cover my bacon!
It’s amazing how many of you Cashman fanboy apologists will go out of your way to defend a baseball executive with a mediocre record.
I think it’s a good move by the Yankees. It locks Gardner up until he turns 36 when his speed should start to be diminished which will affect his offense in a fairly significant way. He plays great defense and can play center to rest Ellsbury or fill in if he is hurt. His OBP might only be around .350-.360 but when he gets on he tends to score more than the average base runner because of his speed. If he moves to the #2 spot in the order in 2015 both he and Ellsbury will likely score 100+ runs each.
Gardner will only be 34 through most of the 2018 season his last guaranteed year. He doesn’t turn 35 until August 2018 with any luck at all he will exceed the value of his contract.
If Gardner stays true to his game he will make the deal more than worth it IMO. The only real luck needed is his health with how hard he plays.
I like the extension and from earlier reports I’ve read on different sites it seems to be in line with what most of the so called expects were thinking Gardner would get in FA. Besides in today’s baseball market $13MM per is almost “chicken feed”.
Now just a guess but Nova has 2 years left of team control AFTER 2014. IF he can pitch like a “solid” #3 or better this entire year and 2015 there is probably a decent chance the Yankees could extend him prior to his last full year of team control in 2016. But that’s a long way away and Nova has to prove he can be consistently good or better.
I also would not be the least bit surprised to see the Yankees go after a power bat for SS and or 2nd base via FA or a trade for the 2015 season when both Jeter is retired and Roberts is a FA. With a good year in 2014 by a few of the Yankees prospects they will have some desirable excess in both the catching and OF positions. I think next off season will see the Yankees just as active revamping the team as this off season.
I don’t think the Yankees will have nearly as many holes as they did entering this offseason. They might not even have to go out and get a starter via FA. Sabathia, Tanaka, Nova, Pineda, Banuelos/Turley/Phelps/Nuno/etc. (but that’s only if Pineda can build his innings this year) They just need a shortstop and second baseman, really.
They won’t have as many holes but there are still issues the Yankees will have to address come the end of the 2014 season.
Robertson’s a FA
Soriano and Ichiro but are both FA
2nd base is an issue, Unless Roberts turns back into the 2009Roberts.
SS is an issue
3rd base could be an issue depending what’s going on with A-Rod.
So the issues aren’t as big as this past year but there will be things that need to be addressed. Some of those things like Robertson may work themselves out.
Roberts won’t be on the team in 2015. Bailey can replace Robertson in worse case scenario. We have too many outfielders already so I’m not concerned about Soriano and Ichiro. But I only see 2nd and SS as the two major issues.
With all due respect no one is even sure Bailey is going to pitch again. While I would like to think so and hope so it’s far from a forgone conclusion.
As for the outfield today we have 5 outfielders on the 25 man roster. Next year there are only 3 and some potential prospects and prospects are far from a given. And who knows what A-Rod’s situation will be going forward.
Ichiro is a bench player and Soriano is a part time OF/DH who will likely be replaced by Beltran full time then. Their IF is the bigger question mark just like this year.
I agree 100%. This year is still a transition year no matter what the Yankees say to the media. Hopefully they will spend smartly and get good role players to fill the infield. Also if A-Fraud’s hip is shot that salary will vanish with the insurance.
Not sure about the AAV, but I love the structure of the deal – salary increases first few years, then decreases in the later years. It is ridiculous to pay players like Pujols or Cano $25-30m into their 40’s. It also has some protection (the $1m if he gets traded), so even though his salary may go down in the later years he isn’t getting a bad deal.
That 25-30 million will be worth less in 7 years than it is today. Back loading contracts works for the team. For teams up against the LT the AAV is a constant though, regardless how you structure the deal (backload or front load), deflated only by an increase in the LT threshold
Sorry, what’s the LT threshold?
Luxury tax threshold of $189 million dollars.
I guess that’s the end of the Yankees no extension policy?
Gardner’s a nice, scrappy little player, but nothing to go gaga over. The concern I have about Ellsbury and Gardner occupying two-thirds of the OF is that speed doesn’t age well. As their time in the Bronx comes to an end, you’ll basically be looking at a pair of 38-year old Johnny Damons and Ellsbury will probably end up as a DH. Not something to look forward to, IMO.
If I were a GM, I wouldn’t pay FA money to both guys whose games are pretty similar: speed, defense, and low power. One, yes. Two, no. One on FA money and one on pre-FA money is questionable enough.
I hope the yankees have a plan on where the power will be coming from since it won’t be from 2/3 of the OF.
The Gardner deal is actually below market value. Most would value him at a round 2-3 WAR at least per year next couple of seasons. With that, his contract is below market value. And defense is still slightly under valued.
The good news is NY finally got up to speed extending players, the bad news is they over paid Gardner. I was hoping Robertson would be the guy they locked up.
Also I know they used Bourn’s deal as a template, but if NY offered him a QO he would turn it down, and with a pick attached he might find it tough to land $12M per for 4 yr’s on the open market.
Yanks have too many OFer’s with the same profile moving forward, Ellsbury, Gardner, Heathcott, Austin, and Williams, what happened to the Big Hairy HR monsters Cashman adores?
They got suspended for 200 games then sued the MLB.
Cashman was adamantly against signing ARod.
@BBomber: How did they Yanks overspend on Gardner? When you factor in his 2014 salary he’s averaging just over $11million a year and the current market was set up at about $5-6million per WAR (his was 4 in 2013). Since moving up to MLB name a LF that has saved more runs than Gardner…
Surprised no mention of Rasmus in the 2015 FA list, he would probably be the best positional player in free agency not named Han Ram. Wonder if Rasmus would be inclined to signing a similar deal maybe 4 years at 54 mil? 13 mil per year with a 2 mil signing bonus? Sweeten it up with a team option at 15 mil with a 2-2.5 mil buyout? Thoughts you loathsome Yankee fans? lol
I am no Yankee fan but I watch a lot of their games and I can’t lie, it’s nice to see that Gardner has turned into a real player rather than this little slap-hitter and being known as “that fast guy on the bench”
I really love this move – and am glad Gardner got it. It’s well-deserved. I got to see Gardner and how he was in the locker room in Triple-A Scranton. His leadership capabilities then were fantastic and I can only imagine they’ve grown since from everything I’ve read.
Beyond that, his defense and speed are invaluable – though his speed has been underused in past years in my opinion. Yankees fan or not – this is a solid move.
Did you play with him in triple a?
I covered the AAA team for Pinstripes Plus magazine for four years.
13 mil a year for a corner OF with a .268 avg and no power? Sounds about par for the course in the current market lol.
Defense and base running count, too.
When you have, by the age of 30, already amassed such lofty marks as 517 hits, 23 career home runs, and nearly two hundred career runs batted in, why shouldn’t you be rewarded with $52 million?
The late Bill Veeck said he wasn’t concerned about the high price of talent. He was concerned about the high price of mediocrity.
Because you don’t judge a leadoff hitting CF by HRs and RBIs. Now try the same sarcasm using Defense, Speed, and OBP.
In the wake of the Ellsbury signing Gardner is a LF not a CF and probably not a leadoff hitter either. Still has plenty of value to justify this contract.
He played 138 games in CF last year, ZERO in LF.
Added later: What happened to your last comment??? Where’s the “What they going to do with the 153mil CF they just signed” You completely misread my comment, then revised yours so you don’t sound like a tool.
In 2014 he will be a LF, what do you expect NYY to do with its new 153 MM dollar CF, DH him?
Plus Gardner has 2295.1 career inning in LF and 2353.0 in CF. Not that big a difference
He won’t be leading off either. The first poster pointed out his weak numbers. Those numbers were accumulated mostly in CF and leading off. What I said has nothing to do with where he will play.
Oh, and where to play the 153 mil CF? Its called the Disabled List.
Added later: Rally Monkey completely changed content and tone of his comments.
Ellsbury has averaged 113 games per year for his career, he has only had 2 significant injuries. Why is he injury prone all of a sudden? And if your talking about the past Gardner has played only 50.6 percent of his total inning in CF, the other 49.4% in LF
50 is greater than 49. My point stands. It was a general comment about what type of player he was. You don’t judge this type of a player with RBIs and HRs. It didn’t need to be broken down to a tenth of a percentile.
You can forget about the Yankees trying to sign or trade for Stanton now.
Who was thinking about that?
Pretty hefty sum for what’s now pretty much a 4th outfielder
Gardner is not a fourth outfielder.
In what, the all-star game? Posting a 4 WAR and leading the majors in UZR runs saved doesn’t land you on the bench.
I think its a good contract, love players with multiple skills.