Gardner gone for May?

That's what they're saying. Elbow. Can't swing a bat for 10 days. At least 10 days. This sucks.

For a guy who bats ninth and pops 4 dingers a year - (in a town that measures hitters by HRs) - Brett Gardner was becoming the Reggiesque straw that stirs the cocktail. The clunkers who replace him in LF patrol like statues of George Steinbrenner. It's easy to imagine his absence costing a run per game. And most of our pitchers aren't good enough to overcome a ball dropping that should have been caught.

Moreover, without Gardner roiling the bases, we become a team of free-swinging hot water heaters, moving base to base, like travelers kicking their luggage along the floor in an airport.  With the exception of Grandy and Nuni - who is becoming the utility man with no defensive utility - we have only "smart" runners, who don't make mistakes. Nobody disrupts a pitcher like Gardner, especially after he draws a walk.

Worst part of this is the movie deja vu: We've seen this film. A week turns into a month, then it's Tommy John, then it's 2013, with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon kissing in the box seats. Any time an elbow barks in the Yankiverse, it's like a bell going off in "It's a Wonderful Life," but instead of an angel getting her wings, she's being forced to pole dance on the back of a transit bus in Calgary - or something like that. Maybe not that. I dunno. Something bad though.

This weekend, at some point, Jesus Montero will probably catch a game against his old team. Gards won't be there to make him squirm. This is bad. This is really bad.