The New York Yankees announced today that they will avoid arbitration with outfielder Brett Gardner (via Yankees Twitter). Arbitration looked to be certain when Gardner filed for arbitration at $3.2 million while the Yankees had offered him $2.4 million.
The club did not announce the details of the deal with Gardner in the tweet. The Wall Street Journal reported that the agreed upon figure was $2.8 million (via WSJ).
Gardner has some of the best wheels in MLB. He is coming off a season in which he stole a career-high 49 bases, which tied for the American League lead. He hit .259 last season and had 7 home runs and 36 RBI. Gardner has been with the Yankee organization since 2008. This offseason was his first opportunity to file for arbitration.
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