The Yankees have “absolutely no intention” of trading Brett Gardner to clear room in center field for Jacoby Ellsbury or to fill a need elsewhere, according to team president Randy Levine.
Appearing Sunday morning on ESPN Radio’s “The Ian O’Connor Show,” Levine declined to comment on reports the Yankees rejected a Gardner-for-Brandon Phillips trade offer from Cincinnati but did say he fully expected Gardner to be in the Opening Day lineup.
“One will play left, one will play center, and it’s a tremendous defensive situation. So no there’s absolutely no intention to move Brett Gardner. We get inquiries about every single one of our players all the time, [GM Brian Cashman] listens, but there’s no attempt here to trade or move Brett Gardner.”
Last week, there were a few rumors circulating about a proposed Daniel Murphy for Gardner swap. But it was mostly non mainstream speculation with no factual basis.
