TAMPA — The Yankees are hopeful Aaron Hicks is able to stay on the field this season after missing much of last year following wrist surgery, but they are still looking for outfield depth.
On Sunday, the team signed Tim Locastro to a major league deal, filling out the 40-man roster.
But before that move was official, Aaron Boone made it sound as if there still could be room on the team for an old standby.
Asked whether Brett Gardner could return to The Bronx, Boone said, “I certainly believe he can still play at a high level. I would never say [the door] is closed. I know the front office still values him as a player and a person. … We’ll see how it all plays out, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
Gardner didn’t sign with the Yankees until just before spring training a year ago and went on to play 140 games, as the Yankee outfield dealt with several injuries.
At 38, the Yankees wouldn’t want to rely on Gardner like that again, but his agent, Joe Bick, told The Post’s Joel Sherman last month that Gardner wants to continue playing and would like to finish his career with the Yankees — the team that drafted him in 2005.
Unlike Gardner, Locastro hits from the right side. He played nine games with the Yankees last season after a trade from the Diamondbacks for minor league right-hander Keegan Curtis before he suffered a torn ACL. The light-hitting 29-year-old was selected off waivers by the Red Sox from the Yankees in November, but became a free agent later that month.
He’s played 148 games in his career, with 65 appearances in center.
The goal, though, is to find a way to keep Hicks on the field.
“I’m excited about Aaron,’’ Boone said of the 32-year-old. “His health has been an issue the last couple years, but we know what kind of player he is when he’s healthy.”
Hicks hasn’t played in more than 59 games in a season since 2018, but was mostly healthy in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. And the Yankees were encouraged he was in good enough form to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic.
“His initiative speaks to his hunger to get back to the level we know he can get to,’’ Boone said of the switch hitter who has four years left on his contract. “My hope is he’s gonna be a really good player for us.”