The Yankees are exploring a wide variety of options to add youth to their team this offseason, but most rumors involve veteran left fielder Brett Gardner. He has already been linked to trades with the Mariners and Nationals, but the latest buzz doesn’t make much sense for the Yanks.
The Yankees are engaging the Cubs about a Gardner for Starlin Castro swap, per The New York Daily News. Castro, 25, is a talented young player, but how he fits into the Yankees’ plans is unclear.
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The Yankees don’t need a shortstop. They traded for Didi Gregorious, also 25, last offseason, and he was a fairly productive hitter while adding 14 runs of value with his glove according to Fangraphs. At second base, the Yankees have a platoon of Dustin Ackley and youngster Rob Refsnyder going. The oldest of these players is Ackley, and he’s only 27.
Gardner, 33, was a quality player for the Yankees even despite his poor second half. Gardner slashed .259/.343/.399 with 16 home runs and 20 stolen bases. At this point it would probably be preferable for the Yankees to deal Jacoby Ellsbury instead of Gardner, but his prohibitive contract makes him immovable. Gardner is one of their best trade chips, but making the move for an infielder would be confusing.
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In the other deals Gardner was being dangled in order to get pitching. The Yanks were rumored to have targeted James Paxton from the Mariners, and a package of Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen from the Nationals, with closer Andrew Miller heading to D.C. with Gardner.
In a vacuum acquiring Castro is low-risk, high-reward, but in the real world, the Yankees could use young arms much more than young middle infielders.
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