The New York Yankees recently signed Brett Gardner to a one year deal with a team option in 2020. Him returning gives the team a third definite outfielder for the season. He will probably start in center field with Aaron Hicks injured, and Aaron Judge will start in right. Giancarlo Stanton will start a lot of games in left, but won’t play there every day. He will see some time in the DH slot. The team still has a decision on who the fourth outfielder will be.
Mike Tauchman:
Mike Tauchman had his first extended time on a big league roster in 2019, and took advantage of it.
He hit .277 in 260 at-bats, hitting 13 home runs and driving in 47. His on base percentage was well over .350. The 29 year old has some speed and is a pretty solid defender. Tauchman had a hot streak over the summer that skewed his stats, but was really solid overall. He is probably the top option.
Clint Frazier:
Clint Frazier has a great bat, but his defense often times hurts the team. He hit .267 with 12 home runs and 38 runs driven in, but is skewed downward from being ice cold during his September call up.
In 2019 alone, he had -8 defensive runs saved in the field. That number is terrible, especially with the number of games that he played. Unless his defense improves drastically, he will see limited time on the Yankees roster in 2020 or will be traded.
Free Agent Options:
There are plenty of free agent outfielders that the Yankees could sign for cheap to play backup outfield. Options include Cameron Maybin, Hunter Pence, Kole Calhoun, Carlos Gomez, and Jon Jay.
But, I don’t think that the Yankees will go this route. I predict that Mike Tauchman will be the fourth outfielder in 2020, with Tyler Wade being the team’s super-utility man and playing an occasional outfield.