Question Marks Lead Yankees to Say No to Gaetti

After much thought, a few phone conversations expressing interest and some mild suspense, the Yankees apparently will say no to free-agent third baseman Gary Gaetti, who has received a $10.8-million offer from the Angels. According to a Yankees front-office source, they soon will inform agent Jim Bronner that they are bowing out of the Gaetti sweepstakes.

Gaetti’s recent drop in home run production discouraged the Yankees, who nonetheless expressed interest during his first three weeks of new-look free agency. There never was a Yankees offer, and the willingness of other teams to offer four-year deals finally convinced the Yankees to withdraw altogether.

“There were too many question marks there,” said a Yankees source. “Some scouts think he isn’t what he once was. The power factor has gone down. You may think he can bounce back from his last two years, but can he bounce back for four more years? When a guy hits .229, there are reservations about offering that kind of money.”

Gaetti, 32, has received a four-year offer totaling $10.8 million from the Angels. That was countered by the Twins, who guaranteed three years and $7 million in a contract that would extend to four years and $10 million if Gaetti played a specified number of games in the third year.

The Yankees seemed reluctant from the start to pursue Gaetti because he bats right-handed. Gaetti has averaged 93 RBI the past five seasons but his home run totals have dropped from 34 in 1986 to 31 in 1987, then 28, 19, and 16 last season.

“One of the other questions we have is, ‘Is this going to make us win?’ ” the source said. “Is he going to pull us from the lower half of the division up to the upper half?”