The Yankees’ search for a left fielder has lasted all offseason.
But you actually have to go all the way back to 2018 for the last time they had a true everyday player at the position. And even in that season, Brett Gardner started just 101 games in left.
The Yankees tried to solve the issue at last year’s trade deadline, when they acquired Andrew Benintendi from the Royals, but he went down for the remainder of the season in early September due to a fractured hamate bone. This offseason, though the Yankees were interested in retaining him, Benintendi signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the White Sox.
The class of lefty-swinging or switch-hitting free-agent left fielders has dwindled to just Jurickson Profar — who remains on the Yankees’ radar. Profar, linked to the Yankees earlier in his career, opted out of the final year of his contract with the Padres, which was worth $7.5 million.
