The Yankees have been better off with Brett Gardner this year and not just because of his low salary. He has performed better than the other LF candidate, Johnny Damon.
Back in April, I never thought I’d be saying that. If anything, I thought Gardner would prove the better option than Damon only because of the massive difference in salary. Damon is pulling down $8MM this season. Gardner is making $452,500 this season. Obviously, Gardner’s lower salary makes him valuable to the Yankees. But, fantastically enough, Brett Gardner is actually producing on the field and is producing at a better rate than Johnny Damon.
Gardner has hit for a .386 wOBA, not including last night’s game, while Damon has hit for a solid-but-not-as-good-as-2008-and-2009 and in turn, Gardner has thus far out-WAR’d Damon 2.0 to 1.1.
Is it likely that Gardner continues to outplay Damon? I’m not so sure. I want to say “no” because we’ve never seen Gardner get this much time at the plate. However, Gardner’s lasted this far and could be making the adjustments to become a solid regular. I will say that it’s doubtful Gardner posts a .386 wOBA from here on out but I can definitely see him ending up numbers comparable to the departed Damon’s. Considering their price tags, I’ll take Gardner.
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7 Responses to Better off Brett
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TIQ IQ
i was watching a video of his 4 hit game of the other day. 3 of the hits were slap type hits to the left side and one bunt. he is totally learning to put the ball in play on the left side of the infield and then beat it out for a hit. he makes the opposing defense play overfast and sloppy on his balls in play, provoking errors. amazing guy.
there is no comparison, glove, not even close , jugging a ball.. speed.getting to the ball, throwing the ball and even catching it..next to or near a wall,,diving at a ball.. damon was a disaster…he would run with his glove in the air like a kid learning how to catch…he was a joke in the out field.. his base running was great..brett is on the same level just faster..power ..damon has him beat ….maybe if brett pumped roids he can get to damons level just like johnny did..how many does damon have this year.. average looks like a tie.. age …brett damons days are gone in the past …bretts days are the future..50 stolen bases this year is a real number..like thurgood said pressure on the defense…lets root for him to repeat the first half after the all star break
Anybody miss Melky yet?
yeah like an ex wife
Most definitely not. Have you seen how bad he’s been playing with Atlanta? Their stats: Gardner .320/.402/.422 (avg/obp/slg) 3 hr 23 sb. Melky: (.261/.322/.336) 2 hr, 3 sb. Theirs not much more to say.
There was something about that kid that I didn’t like. Maybe he was just really shy and wasn’t handling the spotlight of playing in NY well but he really looked like he was mediocre, and he knew it and he didn’t care. I hope he does well but I am glad he isn’t with the Yanks.
I missed Melky many times while he was here, but that’s just because my aim sucks.