Three Teams The New York Yankees Could Deal Brett Gardner To

Being the most probable member of the New York Yankees to be dealt this offseason, here are the teams that could use outfielder Brett Gardner.

The most underrated member of the New York Yankees, Brett Gardner, may be the next veteran out and if you think a team won’t be interested, you’re straight up wrong.

Since 2008, the speedster has the fifth-highest on-base percentage among AL outfielders, has just been nominated for a gold glove, and constantly gives his all as soon as he steps between the lines.

Unfortunately, the 32-year old is not the future. Clint Frazier, the organization’s No. 1 prospect, is knocking on the door and it should be in general manager Brian Cashman’s best interest to bring over a starting pitcher for Gardner’s services.

Which teams are a fit, though? Sure it’s simple to shout and scream “TRADE HIM TRADE HIM” yet looking into who may be in the running or even need a guy like Gardner is eye-opening as many teams could, in fact, use the slick-fielding speedster.

ESNY broke down the three most fitting candidates. Without further adieu, here are the three teams (in no particular order) that would love to add Brett Gardner to their 25-man roster.

Seattle Mariners

Back at the deadline, Cashman and Seatle’s GM Jerry Dipoto were interlocked in talks about Gardner and despite the fact that Seattle wasn’t willing to surrender Taijuan Walker, they were ready to move James Paxton.

After talks faded and the deadline passed, Paxton went on to maintain a 3.26 earned run average over nine starts in August and September with 56 strikeouts in 55.2 innings of work.

Overall, the oft-injured southpaw tossed a career-high 121 innings while his fastball velocity jumped from 94.94 miles an hour to 96.89 in 2016, according to Brooks Baseball.

Plus, Paxton developed a sinker which Brooks Baseball registers at a jaw-dropping 97.10 miles an hour while batters hit a mere .176 off his cutter. When healthy, it’s evident that Paxton is a steady threat to the opposition and on the flip side, Gardner would be an ideal fit for Seattle.

The Mariners’ options in left and center consist of Guillermo Heredia and Leonys Martin. In 2016, the left field position for the M’s had -22 defensive runs saved (DRS) and an ultimate zone rating (UZR) of -24.9.

Gardner, who is nominated for a gold glove award, ranked second among qualified AL left fielders in UZR while leading them in DRS last season, according to FanGraphs.

I will probably take more than just Gardner to seduce Seattle into dealing Paxton, as they have a valuable asset in a league where solid left-handed pitching can be infrequent.

Washington Nationals

Gio Gonzalez is coming off a year in which he went 11-11 with an ERA of 4.57 but in the five combined years prior, Gonzalez won 84 games and racked up over one thousand strikeouts.

Last offseason, the Nationals talked in the offseason with the Arizona Diamondbacks but the trade fell after Arizona became stubborn about dealing Ender Inciarte or David Peralta.

The Nats also spoke to the Miami Marlins, who declined due to the asking price of Christian Yelich but both Washington and New York have what the other needs.

Washington needs a speedy leadoff guy and the Yankees could use a starter with proven success in recent times to help balance out a questionable rotation. Cashman could possibly make a deal involving Gardner to obtain the lefty.

There is some risk, as Gonzalez doesn’t become a free agent until after 2018, but with a vesting option (which means he must reach 180 innings in 2017), New York won’t have to employ him beyond next season if he were to be unhealthy throughout 2017.

Texas Rangers

If the Rangers would agree to eat some money, Gardner would fill Texas’ vacant left field position — thanks to Carlos Gomez’s departure — to utter perfection.

Texas maintained a pitiful .306 on-base percentage out of the left field position during the second half (22nd in baseball) while Gardner’s greatest attribute is arguably his ability to get on and create runs (seventh-most RC among LF since 2010).

In return, they could pry southpaw Derek Holland from the team that drafted him in the 25th round of the 2006 amateur draft.

In the first three years of his career, he would win 49 games within his first five years in the bigs — sixth-most among lefty starters in the AL.

Over the last two years, however, he has pitched in a mere 32 total games thanks to a subscapular strain in his right shoulder in 2015 and left shoulder inflammation last season. Overall in 2016, Holland maintained a mediocre 4.95 ERA over 107.1 innings of work with a 7-9 record to go hand-in-hand with a 1.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the lowest of his major league career.

If the 30-year old is unable to channel the version of him that tossed four shutouts in 2011, he’s nothing but a starter encased in red flags. Yet, his low-risk value is the type that Cashman would take for the possibility of delivering stability to his rotation.

It just makes sense for both sides. For the Yankees, they’re the ideal team to entertain the opportunity of wheeling in a starting pitcher for a one-year devotion (a $1 million buyout exists) with another available option if he were to light it up in 2017.

Which team do you think Gardner could land this offseason? Should a starting pitcher be priority No. 1 for an asking price? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.