Yankees sign Brett Gardner to an extension

Robert Sabo/New York Daily News

Brett Gardner signed a four year extension with the Yankees worth $52 million and now has a clear picture for their outfield over the next several seasons as Carlos Beltran is under contract until 2016, Jacoby Ellsbury until 2020 and now Brett Gardner until 2019 although Gardner and Ellsbury both have team options that could give them another year of control. This deal is a bit of a surprise as Gardner had been connected to a few trade rumors this off season and most people expected that the Yankees would let him walk after this season, but instead they signed a very agreeable deal for both parties. The part that is odd is that the Yankees had just signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a big deal and the two players now seem a bit redundant, don't get me wrong having two elite defenders in the outfield is never a bad thing and neither is two great speed threats or two great on-base guys, but Gardner can play a good center field and now that they signed Gardner to this deal why did they sign Ellsbury to that big deal? The only thing that makes sense to me is that the Yankees must think that Ellsbury's power from 2011 was the real deal and they plan on having him hit 20-25 Homerus a season for the next few years, that's just a theory though.
Andy Martino of the New York daily news mentions in his article about the deal one of the better parts of the deal which is that Gardner is still a trade asset if the Yankees decide to move him in a year or two, his $12.5 million a season is reasonable and would definitely be movable.
Gardner is a good story for Yankee fans as he was a walk on at Charelston College and a third round pick but never considered a top prospect who came on the scene in 2010 as the starting left fielder and now he would appear to be the starting left fielder for the next several seasons and all at a time when the Yankees struggle to grow players Gardner is still there as a home grown talent. On his deal Gardner said "I made it known to them that I wanted to stay here and be a part of this. I learned from guys that come from other places that there's no better place to play, so I look forward to staying here and helping the team win."