Gardner avoids arbitration: The Yankees and OF Brett Gardner agreed on a one-year deal on Friday, avoiding arbitration. According to CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees will pay Gardner $2.8 million this season. (Updated 01/20/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 2/12/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Gardner stole 49 bases last season, but his .259 batting average qualified as a mild disappointment. A high stolen base count makes Gardner a solid contributor in virutally all Rotisserie formats, but in standard mixed Head-to-Head leagues, he is more of a late-round option, even if he is due for a mild batting average rebound. (Updated 01/20/2012).
02/10/2012 13:27 2012 Draft Prep: 12-team, mixed H2H draft
Which picks stood out in our initial 12-team Head-to-Head mock draft for 2012? Check out the results and read what Scott White has to say about some of the more interesting selections.
02/02/2012 12:21 2012 Draft Prep: Our 12-team, mixed Rotisserie draft
It's time for owners to start looking ahead to Draft Day. We get you off and running with our 12-team Rotisserie mock draft. Check out the results!
After making the most of his first season as a regular in 2010, Brett Gardner's second year as a starting outfielder didn't go quite as well. While he increased his stolen bases from 47 to 49, Gardner's batting average and on-base percentage dropped substantially. Gardner was extremely patient two seasons ago, averaging 4.6 pitches per plate appearance, but he was merely very patient (4.2 PPA) last year, and it resulted in fewer walks. While Gardner hit a robust .321 on grounders, he made more outs when getting the ball in the air. While that is a trend that could easily reverse itself, more concerning were Gardner's increased struggles against left-handed pitchers (.233 batting average, .272 slugging percentage), which could prevent him from getting more at-bats against southpaws going forward. Even if Gardner rebounds this season, the potential for him to sit against lefties limits his value to that of a middle-round pick in Rotisserie leagues and a late-round pick in Head-to-Head leagues. (Updated 1/26/12)