MLB

Did Brett Gardner cost himself $100M by passing on free agency?

When Brett Gardner agreed to a four-year extension worth $52 million with the Yankees during spring training, the left fielder said he didn’t mind giving up the opportunity to become a free agent after the season.

Even now that he’s keeping pace with Jacoby Ellsbury in virtually every offensive category — if not exceeding him — Gardner hasn’t changed his outlook.

“Not at all,” Gardner said. “One of the things I had to come to terms with, whether I was good, bad or anywhere in between, I didn’t want to have any regrets.”

The Yankees certainly don’t. After Gardner’s four-hit game on Wednesday, the left fielder had a leadoff double and scored in the first inning of Thursday’s 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays at the Stadium. He reached base twice more with a walk and hit by pitch.

Ellsbury’s deal is worth $153 million over seven seasons, and he entered Thursday with almost identical numbers.

They both played their 69th game Thursday and Gardner has scored more runs (43-36) and has more total bases (112-105). And he continues to play an above-average left field.

“It’s one of those things that after the fact you can always wonder what might have happened, but I’m perfectly happy with the decision I made,” Gardner said. “I was happy when I made it in February and I’m just as happy now. No matter what happens the rest of the year, I’ll still be happy with it.”

Though Ellsbury has been streaky and other big-name free agents Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann have struggled with health and production, Gardner has provided exactly what the Yankees had expected. Still, manager Joe Girardi admitted Gardner is occasionally an afterthought.

“I think so, because of the names in the middle of the order, sometimes a guy like that can be overlooked,” he said. “When you talk about the Yankees, he’s probably not going to be the first name you talk about.’’

That’s fine with Gardner.

“One of the things I had to come to terms with was that I had to put my ego aside a little bit and not worry about how much money I could possibly make in free agency,” Gardner said. “I’m happy with how it turned out and I’m not going to sit back and think about what might have been.”

Gardner made it clear he wanted to stay with the Yankees, with whom he’s comfortable, but the thought of the elbow injury that cost him most of 2012 still weighs on his mind.

“I didn’t think I was going to get hurt going into the year, but I was able to take that completely out of it,” Gardner said. “I could just go out, play hard and not worry about numbers.”