Yankees Rumors: Brett Gardner in Contract Talks to Return to NYY for 13th Season

Brett Gardner may want to hold on to his pinstripes for at least one more season.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported Thursday that the 36-year-old left fielder and the New York Yankees "are already talking about trying to stay together contractually." ESPN's Jeff Passan corroborated the report Friday but added that "no deal is close."

Gardner is the Yankees' longest-tenured player, having been with the club since 2008. He renewed his appeal to the organization during the 2019 season by posting a career-high 28 home runs, 74 RBI and .829 OPS.

As Passan noted, the Yankees have a recent precedent for loyalty to tenured players. New York re-signed then-38-year-old starting pitcher CC Sabathia to a one-year contract last November. The 2007 Cy Young Award winner retired following this season.

Gardner has value to the Yankees beyond familiarity, though.

New York was notoriously banged up in 2019, setting an all-time record for number of players to hit the injured list in a season, and the outfield was not spared.

Center fielder Aaron Hicks and left fielder Giancarlo Stanton were limited to 59 and 18 games respectively, while Gardner appeared in 141 contests with 131 starts in the outfield. That will bleed into the 2020 season as Hicks underwent Tommy John surgery in late October that will sideline him for eight to 10 months.

In October, general manager Brian Cashman voiced Gardner's importance to reporters:

"In terms of Brett Gardner, I don't think there's any question about what his capabilities are. He had a tremendous season, both sides of the ball offensively and defensively, including playing center field. … Can he handle manning center field in 2020, both offensively and defensively? I don't think there's any question, based on the performance he put forth this year and last year."

The Yankees drafted Gardner in the third round of the 2005 MLB draft. He has a .260/.342/.401 slash line with 124 home runs and 524 RBI across 1,499 games.