Where Yankees’ left-field situation stands with Bryan Reynolds off the table

MINNEAPOLIS — The player long considered the elixir to the Yankees’ left-field issue is no longer a possible solution.

In the meantime, the players the Yankees have tried to give opportunities at the position have continued to struggle.

The Pirates finally locked up left fielder Bryan Reynolds on Tuesday, agreeing to an eight-year, $106.75 million contract extension that will cut short any Yankees trade rumors he was sure to be involved in this summer.

The Yankees had been interested in the left-handed hitting Reynolds since this past offseason, and a deal looked more possible after he requested a trade.

But inquiring teams seemed to balk at the Pirates’ hefty asking price and a trade never got done.

That left the Yankees with a spring training battle for playing time in left field. Oswaldo Cabrera beat out Aaron Hicks and has since started 14 of the Yankees’ first 24 games there.

But the versatile Cabrera has yet to fully hit his stride during the first month of the season.

Overall, the Yankees have received -0.6 fWAR from their left fielders, the second-lowest mark of any team in the majors, trailing only the Royals.

The Yankees’ left fielders, including Hicks and Franchy Cordero, have combined to hit .182 with a .461 OPS through their first 23 games.

“It’s overall been a little bit of a struggle [for Cabrera] to get going, get hot offensively,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday before the Yankees played the Twins at Target Field. “But that said, within that, he’s gotten some big hits for us. Defensively he’s played really well. Had a tough chance [Monday] night that he didn’t make a play on, a play that he should make. But otherwise, that defensive versatility has shown itself. I think he’s played well. He’s been good on the bases. He’s picked good spots to run.

“It’s just a matter of getting settled and getting going the way I think he’s capable of offensively too.”

Cabrera was hitting .286 with a .629 OPS through his first 12 games. But in the next eight games, heading into Tuesday, he was just 3-for-29 (.103) with a .375 OPS.

He had also drawn just two walks in 74 plate appearances this season, and Boone said he needs to find another level of controlling the strike zone.

Cordero also had a defensive miscue in right field Monday night as the Yankees lost 6-1 to the Twins. He entered Tuesday 3-for-32 with 13 strikeouts over his last 11 games.

“We just gotta continue to work with him,” Boone said. “I think he’s very aware of how well he can impact the ball and what he’s capable of. We gotta continue to help him try to make little adjustments that hopefully continue to get him to another level as a player that matches up with the ability that’s in there.”

Hicks has also struggled throughout the early going in sporadic playing time, though he started for the second straight game Tuesday. He was batting just .107 with a .301 OPS in 12 games.

There was a time when it looked as if Aaron Judge might solve some of the Yankees’ left-field issues. He offered to play some games there at Yankee Stadium so that Giancarlo Stanton could play right field and the DH could be opened up for one of their extra infield bats.

Instead, that spring experiment has yet to happen in the regular season — at first because Judge was needed in center field, to fill in for the injured Harrison Bader, and now because Stanton has joined Bader on the injured list with a hamstring strain that is expected to keep him out through the end of May.

At least until Bader and Stanton return, the opportunity will remain for Cabrera, Hicks and Cordero to find a groove, especially with the hope of acquiring Reynolds now extinguished.