Does Brett Gardner deserve a plaque in Monument Park?

It’s a question that was brought up a little while ago;  With Brett Gardner’s long tenure as a Yankee coming an end relatively soon, it’s time to look back on his career and see where he stands amongst the immortals.

Gardner isn’t necessarily the most accomplished Yankee of the past 15 years but he’s had a great run and has been one of the most consistent Yankees for a while.  His numbers were never outstanding but he’s always been great at both the top and bottom of the lineup.  He’s played a great left field since 2008 and if he wins the competition in Spring Training this year will continue to patrol left field valiantly.

Gardner is a career .261 hitter, with 1,232 hits and 257 stolen bases to boot.  He’ll hit the 100 home run mark which is impressive considering his career high is 21 in 2017.  Gardner is a one time Gold Glove winner (2016), one time All-Star (2015) and led the league in stolen bases in 2011 and triples in 2013.

The highlight of Gardner’s career was his 2009 World Series championship run.  Gardner wasn’t very productive and is a career .202 postseason hitter, but he was still part of the team and has been an integral part of shaping the locker room for the young stars of tomorrow.

Does he deserve to have his number retired and be placed among the best in baseball history?  Absolutely not.  Gardner falls in the good but not great category of Yankee players and although he’ll be fondly remembered and will get a good ovation during Old Timer’s Day, he’s never going to be immortalized the way Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill were.  You’ve been a good soldier Brett, but you aren’t standing next to Derek anytime soon.