The New York Yankees and gardener Brett Gardner reached an agreement on a $ 4 million one-year contract, sources told Jeff Passen of ESPN, confirming several reports.
The treatment is pending a physical examination. It includes a second-year player option that, if rejected, becomes a team option, sources said.
Gardner, 37, became a free agent in November when New York turned down a $ 10 million option, prompting a $ 2.5 million purchase. He has been with the Yankees since 2008 and is their last player on the 2009 World Series winning team. His 14-year stint with a team during his career is tied for fifth place among active players.
Gardner hit .223 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the short season, below 251 with personal bests of 28 RBIs and 74 RBIs in 2019. The Yankees agreed to a $ 2 million signing bonus. a salary of $ 8 million for 2020, which became $ 2,962,963 in prorated payment.
“Obviously he’s been a great Yankee, but we’ll see how things develop here,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday at spring training in Tampa, Florida.
Boone said then that Clint Frazier projected himself as his starting left fielder after making great strides last year in his fourth season with the Yankees. Frazier, 26, hit 267 with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 131 bats during the season shortened by the pandemic, after hitting 267 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs in 225 bats in 2019.
Recruited in the third round by the Yankees in 2005, Gardner has an average of 259, 129 homers and 539 RBIs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.