A reunion between Brett Gardner and the Yankees has not been ruled out, as the two sides have remained in contact, according to sources, but general manager Brian Cashman appears ready to play 2021 without the oldest player on the team – and with a bigger role for Clint Frazier.
Asked about Gardner during a call from Zoom on Friday, Cashman said, “He’s been a great Yankee. We will see how things will happen in the coming weeks. “
Later, speaking to WFAN, Cashman was effusive in his praise for Frazier, who could be the team’s left field player, with Aaron Hicks in the center and Aaron Judge on the right.
“Clint Frazier continued to reinforce that he is a force and is getting better,” said Cashman. “Last year was another proof of that. Going for it, no doubt, he solidified as the guy, and he is a guy who has saved us a few times when his injuries hit him.
Frazier in the line-up would leave the heavy-handed right-handed Yankees even more right-handed, with just the stroke of Hicks providing a left-handed baton, in addition to Mike Tauchman and Tyler Wade, potentially off the bench.
But Cashman made it clear on Friday that he was not willing to add balance to the lineup just by doing it.
“We try to resolve [balance] as we did in previous years, but we didn’t find a match that made enough sense to lower the level of talent that happens to be right-handed just to force that balance, ” Cashman said. “It is a matter of interpretation whether this is a smart strategy of ours or not.”
Gardner played well in the latter part of 2020. After starting off badly, with just one .592 OPS and seven extra-base strokes in his first 116 plate appearances, Gardner finished strong, going 13 to 33 with 1,190 OPS and four extra strokes -based on his 42 plate appearances in the regular season. And in the playoffs, Gardner made 7 of 19 with an OPS of 1,079.
Frazier, 26, also had a strong year of 2020, after years teasing the Yankees with his talent. He was one of his best offensive threats, but ended the regular season with a 1 in 20 drop.
In the past, he struggled to stay consistent and stay healthy, and Cashman believes the side effects of the concussion he suffered in 2018 are behind him.
“When we acquired it, it had a high ceiling, but it was not a finished product,” said Cashman. “He is closing the gap in all of this.”
When the Yankees switched to Frazier in 2016 in the business that sent Andrew Miller to the Indians, Cashman became famous for Frazier’s “legendary baton speed”.
His Yankee career was one of ups and downs and he spent most of the beginning of last season at the alternate training venue, until Giancarlo Stanton hit the injured list with a thigh strain that Frazier was called up.
“He had a hell of a year, ” Cashman said of Frazier. “He’s working hard this winter. He is hungry. He wants to keep improving. “