The Blue Jays have reached out to show some interest in veteran outfielder Brett Gardner, tweets Newsday’s Erik Boland, although Boland adds that the 38-year-old Gardner is still hoping that the Yankees will make an offer for him to return. Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears similarly, writing that the Jays have checked in on Gardner but some clubs wonder whether he’d actually sign with a team other than the Yankees, given the history between the two parties.
Gardner hit .222/.327/.362 with 10 homers, 16 doubles and four triples while playing more center field than the Yankees probably would have hoped in 2021. Aaron Hicks’ injuries, however, pushed Gardner into a prominent share of time in center, where he logged 816 innings. That was just the second time since 2015 that Gardner had played even 40 games in center, and to his credit, he rated only a bit below average there. For a 38-year-old who’s become more accustomed to left field, it was about as solid a showing as could be expected.
Interest from the Jays makes some sense, given that their roster is exceptionally right-handed. Gardner hit just .213 against righties in 2021, but part of that was due to an abnormally low .243 average on balls in play against them. He walked in 13.9% of his plate appearances versus right-handed pitching against a 20.2% strikeout rate that clocks in below the league average.
Gardner is far from the hitter he once was, when he batted a combined .257/.338/.413 with 109 homers and 130 steals in 1024 games with the Yankees from 2013-19. With the Jays, however, he’d be viewed as a part-time player — a lefty bat off the bench whose primary role would be to offer some occasional breathers or injury insurance for right-handed outfield options like Lourdes Gurriel Jr., George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk. He’d presumably be attainable on a one-year contract, but it’d be understandable if Gardner felt somewhat conflicted about leaving the only team he’s known after 14 big league seasons and 17 professional campaigns, dating back to his selection in the third round of the 2005 draft.