Brett Gardner Turned Down This Contract Offer From the Blue Jays

CHICAGO — After a crushing defeat in last year's Wild Card Game at Fenway Park, Brett Gardner made his intentions for the upcoming offseason clear. 

"I hope that I'm back next season," Gardner said, still donning his Yankees jersey and cap long after the final out. "I hope that I'm back in that room, and I hope that I'm in Tampa come February, but there's obviously a long time between now and then, a lot of things that need to get figured out. We'll see what happens."

Since then, reports have circulated about Gardner's willingness to sign elsewhere. All the while, it was clear the veteran outfielder preferred to return to the Yankees, finishing his career with the only organization he's ever known.

Evidently Gardner meant what he said, because the veteran outfielder has been recruited to multiple teams this offseason, choosing to remain available in free agency here in the second month of the regular season.  

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Gardner actually turned down a one-year deal from the Blue Jays when MLB's lockout ended. The contract was worth $6 million, more than Gardner receiver from New York when he re-signed on a one-year pact last spring. 

Toronto wasn't the only team that inquired about Gardner's availability either. Rosenthal added that the defending champion Braves—a team situated not too far logistically from Gardner's hometown of Holly Hill, South Carolina—gauged his interest in recent weeks. 

That correspondence was a result of Atlanta's outfielder Eddie Rosario needing to miss multiple months while recovering from a laser procedure to correct blurred vision and swelling in his right eye. Gardner declined to pursue the opportunity, per Rosenthal.

Gardner, 38, has spent his entire big-league career in pinstripes and his entire professional career in the Yankees organization. Since his MLB debut back in 2008, the speedy outfielder has racked up 1,470 hits, 274 stolen bases and 139 home runs in a Yankees uniform, winning a ring in 2009. He was an All-Star in 2015, earning a Gold Glove Award in 2016.

With Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and Joey Gallo patrolling the outfield, and Giancarlo Stanton routinely playing defense as well, there simply isn't a spot for Gardner on this club right now. Not to mention the fact that utility man Marwin Gonzalez, who was a non-roster invitee at Yankees camp this spring, is capable of playing the outfield, too. 

Other Yankees like Tim Locastro and Miguel Andújar have appeared with the big-league club in the outfield over the first 31 games of the season. Andújar is back in Triple-A while Locastro works back from a left latissimus dorsi strain on the 10-day injured list.

Time will tell if Gardner returns for a 15th season at some point this summer. There's always a chance the Yankees check in—injuries could open a door for Gardner down the road—but for now, the outfielder continues to bide his time for the right opportunity.

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