With the 2020 season well in the past, many Yankees fans are looking to the future; for some, that seems to include leaving Brett Gardner behind. I won’t argue with anyone that Gardner had a rather bad record last year, but we should not let that shortened, odd, season darken our view of the veteran outfielder.

Gardner is a lifer, with the Yankees bringing him up in 2008, and it has been a stellar career. He was a part of the 2009 World Series Championship team and he has contributed to the team every year since his rookie season. In 2019 when the Yankees were plagued by injuries, Gardner was one of the few consistent players on the field and he was integral in the Yankees having a 100 win season that year.

2020 was a strange year for everyone and I feel like Brett Gardner was one of the hardest hit. In a year where the team was supposed to social distance, physical interaction was to be kept to a minimum, and crowds were kept out of the stadiums, people like Gardner lost the spark that keeps the bat going. Playing games that are do-or-die become that much harder when there is no crowd to keep your head in the game. A silent stadium reflects back all the negative thoughts and it can be hard to rally a team when that sort of atmosphere has descended upon the dugout. Toward the end of the season Gardner seemed to find some of his mojo, although it was not enough to propel the Yankees past the Tampa Bay Rays during the postseason.

If the Yankees let Gardner go we have a potential hole in center field should Hicks get hurt, and Gardner will forever be a valuable asset on the bases because he has maintained his speed over the years. There are a few younger players potentially vying for a position in the outfield, but they will need to demonstrate better quality outings than the veteran that is Gardner.

There will come a day when Brett hangs up the cleats, and he (hopefully) begins a fantastic managing career, but for 2021 the Yankees must find a way to bring him back as a player.