With Spring Training only about a month away, the Yankees have remained pretty quiet. They haven’t been connected to any major free agents, nor are there any rumblings about potential trades.
The starting rotation currently projects to include Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino,Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova/Bryan Mitchell – hardly a rotation you can trust to make it through a full season unscathed. There were rumors earlier this offseason about trading Nova or Brett Gardner for younger players with more team control, but no other teams have given Brian Cashman a reason to pull the trigger. Those rumors have since died down, but it’s still plausible that a move could be made before the team descends on Tampa in four weeks.
Nick Caffardo of the Boston Globe made an interesting point on Sunday, suggesting that because Aaron Judge is so close to being big-league ready, the Yankees could opt to trade Gardner to the Angels for LHP Andrew Heaney.
New Angels GM Billy Eppler, who happens to be the former Yanks assistant GM, knows Gardner more than anyone and loves his speed, defense and leadoff ability. The Halos also need a LF and offensive spark, especially since Albert Pujols is expected to miss the beginning of the season.
Heaney, 24, who’s claim to fame was that he was traded to two teams on the same day last winter, went 6-4 with a 3.49 ERA over 18 starts during his first full season in the majors. Gardner, on the other hand, faded in the second half of ’15 hitting around .200 after the All-Star break. The plan is to give him more rest in ’16, with Aaron Hicks playing upwards of three to four times per week.
For his career, Gardner is a .264 hitter over parts of eight seasons in the Bronx. He has $37.5M left on his deal, which includes a $12.5M team option for ’19 with a $2M buyout – a very reasonable contract considering today’s market.
Cashman said when he acquired Hicks that he views him as an everyday player, a comment I found particularly interesting. They obviously believe he can start, and he might have to if Gardner is dealt. It’s rare to see such a big move come down this late in January, so all we’re stuck with is speculation at this point.
But with Cashman, you never know what’ll happen.
