…then let’s stick with Brett Gardner.
By performing incredibly well in the largest sample of Major League plate appearances, Brett Gardner may be saving the Yankees a ton of money on a free agent outfielder. If Gardner were not doing so well–.394 OBP, .368 wOBA going into Sunday–I’d say the Yankees would be likely to pursue one of the two big free agent outfielders that will be available during the offseason: Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.
Gardner has shown marked improvement in his third try at Major League Baseball.
Each year, he’s improved his average (.228; .270; .298), on-base percentage (.283; .345; .394), slugging percentage (.299; .379; .400), and wOBA (.282; .337; .368).
When we look at the average, we also see that it’s very high this year because of a nice high BABIP of .349. That’s up from .311 in ’09 which was up from .296 in ’08.
Lest we think Gardner’s getting by on just a little bit of batted ball luck, I checked into his actual batted ball numbers. Gardner’s line-drive percentage has improved each season–17; 18.1; 19–and he’s dropped his fly ball rate, too–35.1; 32.8; 30.4. So, Gardner has started hitting the ball harder and has hit fewer fly balls, which don’t fit his skill set (lots of speed, little power).
Gardner has seen a drop in power–.109 IosP last year, .102 this year–but it’s essentially the same and I’ll take that trade off for the improved on base percentage. Brett has also seen more pitches per plate appearance each year–3.88; 4.05; 4.60 (!!).
If one thing is clear from 2008 to 2009 to 2010, it’s that Gardner has shown the ability to improve. This could, as it’s been suggested, bring the Yankees big time savings in the offseason.
This season has also confirmed my cautious optimism surrounding Brett Gardner. While I always thought he could be a solid regular, I wasn’t sure if he would be a solid regular. As of right now, he’s proved that. Going forward, though, I’m still cautious. I’m glad the Yankees will probably not need to go after Werth, whom I think is too old, and/or Crawford, whom I think may not age gracefully. I’m definitely not going to expect 2010 to repeat itself for Brett Gardner, I think we could see the beginning of a good career.
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5 Responses to Need to Save a Bunch of Money on an Outfielder?
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TIQ IQ
Although I agree that the Yankees should not be looking to replace Gardner with a high-priced free agent, another possibility arises. Granderson has disappointed in his first season in pinstripes. Gardner could move to center, opening a corner spot for a player with more power. Under that scenario, Granderson becomes a platoon-type fourth outfielder or, more likely, a trade chip. I would not do any of this during the 2010 season, but afterwards it woudl be worth discussing. By then Granderson may have quelled the doubts of people like me. I’d love to be proven wrong about him.
I think next year is going to be a totally different year for Granderson it takes everyone a year to adjust to the bright lights (and party nights) of the New York and it takes a player a year at least to adjust to the pressure that comes with the stripes (Arod in the postseason) I think we don’t need to forget what kind of player Curtis is and has been in his career and judge him on a full body of work and not one injury season with his first new club of his career.
I think one of the biggest reason Curtis has struggled this year is because he is trying to live up to the hype of being traded for by the New York Yankees. That’s a big deal. When you get traded to the Yankees it’s not good enough to do good, you have to have your best season ever and win a championship for anyone to even remember you and coming from Detroit where he was let’s face it, a god with Cabrera it’s a big step up.
The injury also didn’t help he had started to get hot towards the end of April and beginning of May but he when he suffered his groin injury I really worried about his season from then on. More than most Curtis is a guy who lives on his legs through and through, it’s what allows him to steal the amount of bases he does, it allows his to generate the power he has and it also allows him to take relatively poor routes to balls in CF and still play at an above average level defensively. To take away Granderson’s legs is to take away Curtis Granderson.
I’m sure he would never admit it but I know this injury affected him well beyond the month (just under) he was on the disabled list and from the looks of his movements in CF and his swing at the plate lately we may be seeing the first truly healthy Granderson since May 2.
Just last year everyone on this site talked for weeks about how one day Austin Jackson would or would not be “the next Curtis Granderson” so please now that we have the real one lets be patient with him, even if it isn’t in our nature as Yankee fans.
If Curtis can stay locked in at the plate like he is right now this lineup is going to be very dangerous!
Yes, keep Gardner and put the money into the pitching staff.
By the way, does Lupica know that the Mets have one of the most expensive outfields in the league (40 million a year). He often mentions the Yankees pitching staff salary….I’m just saying.
If you look at Gardner’s career stats, which is a little more than a full normal season, then adjust to a normal season, you will find that he has produced at the following rates……110+ runs and 60+ SB’s.
Wow! —-and he is only going to get better.