TAMPA — There were rumors all winter long that the Yankees’ longest-tenured player would be the next to go.
Gold Glove left fielder Brett Gardner wasn’t oblivious. He’s making a lot of money, the Yankees dumped veteran stars last summer and they’re going young in a lot of areas.
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So when there were reports that Gardner was available and teams such as the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays were interested, he figured he’d be leaving the only pro organization that he’s known before spring training.
“I guess so, to be honest,” Gardner said Sunday at his Steinbrenner Field locker before the Yankees’ first full-squad spring training practice. “I’m not constantly checking on my phone. I don’t have Twitter or a Google alert on myself or anything like that.
“I try to unplug myself as much as possible from all that in the offseason, but I definitely hear from wife, mom, friends … the stuff was all being mentioned. I was aware of it all, but I’m happy to be back here obviously.”
Gardner, 33, still loves being a Yankee. He’s been with them since debuting in the majors on June 30, 2008 and says he wants to spend his entire career in New York.
Gardner, however, does seem to realize that being around now doesn’t even assure that he’ll still be with the club for Opening Day let alone for the final two seasons of his four-year, $52 million contract.
“It is what it is,” Gardner said. “I guess on one hand obviously I don’t want to get traded, but on the other hand the fact that maybe some other teams have interest in me, I see that as a compliment.
“I don’t want to play anywhere else. I want to be here, I’m excited to be here and I feel like we’ve got an exciting group of young guys here that are ready to come up and help us out or are right on the verge. I’m excited to be part of that.”
Gardner is coming off a mediocre season after being a first-time All-Star in 2015. His .261 average was close to his .264 career mark, but his homers (7), RBIs (41) and steals (16) were down from three past seasons. His defense in left field was very good, hence the first Gold Glove.
Gardner’s future with the Yankees beyond this summer’s July 31 trade deadline figures to depend on several factors … how he’s performing, how touted left fielder prospect Clint Frazier is playing in Triple-A and how the Yankees are doing.
Last summer, for instance, Carlos Beltran was an All-Star right fielder and then traded in July with the Yankees playing .500 baseball and slugging right field prospect Aaron Judge deemed ready for a first big-league call-up.
“Yeah, I’m aware of all that stuff and how all that stuff kind of ties together and affects each other, but it’s my job to play as good as I can and do everything I can to help the Yankees win,” Gardner said. “If I’m playing well and I’m having a good season and I’m healthy, I expect the team to be doing the same thing.
“We’ll see how it all shakes out, but I’m not really concerned about it and I’m happy as ever to be here.”
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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