Trading Gardner? Dumb

[retrojint]

I have seen the rumored, potential deals for the Yankee outfielder. None impress me.  Number 3 starters, relievers and, Heaven forbid, Starling Castro.  Thankfully, that one was quickly shot down.  I imagine Gardner will be dealt.  He is the Yankees most marketable commodity.  Ellsbury's ridiculous contract has only just begun.  Good luck trying to move that one.

With regard to Brett, what people want to claim is his issue-injuries-has not been a problem for three years.  What is at work is fatigue.    Since '13, his plate appearances are 609, 636 & 656.  He has batted 273/344/ 416 ,  256/327/422 & 259/343/399 over the same period.  Power numbers: 33-10-8-52, 25-8-17-58 & 26-3-16-66.  He remains a good percentage base stealer as well.  24/32, 21/26 & 20/25.  Those are not numbers you sneeze at.  And, he is annually rated at the top of outfielders as far as defense. 

If you asked a Yankee fan of a certain age who was the better player, Gardner or Mickey Rivers, he would probably regard the question as an admittance test to a sanatorium.  But here are some numbers on Mick the Quick, who hid behind a misleading average, which masked the fact that he was making a ton of outs. 

'78: 604, 559.  25-8-11-48. 265/302/397. 25/30.
'79. 570, 533, 156.  27-8-9-50. 10/19.  293/319/424.   Gardner has been the more accomplished outfielder.  So I would not be so quick to celebrate Gardner leaving.

What is uncontested is that he wilted in each of the last two seasons.  He was an All-Star in '15.  That is the midpoint of the season.  By Labor Day both he and McCann were dragging their bats through the zone.  What was at work was Girardi's roster formation.

13-man pitching staffs leave 12 everyday players.  The DH was locked with A-Rod.  That leaves the back-up catcher, who does not ordinarily play, and 2 other subs, usually one infielder and one outfielder.  Girardi seems to think that everybody is Ripken or Gehrig. 

I was hoping that Joe would leave after the season concluded.  I knew they would not fire him.  I do appreciate that he won a World Series for the Yankees as both a player and manager.  But by the end of 15, I had seen enough of Joe and his formuliac ways.  I am going to use this forum, which, if memory serves correctly, I started, as a place where I can weigh in against Girardi.  Decribe how he irritates me.