Brett Gardner suffers another setback

Brett Gardner won't be back with the Yankees anytime soon.

The leftfielder, on the disabled list since April 18 with a right elbow strain, suffered another setback after playing in a rehab game Friday night.

"He woke up and had pain today," Joe Girardi said before Saturday night's game. Girardi doesn't expect to have Gardner back until, at the earliest, sometime "after the All-Star break."

General manager Brian Cashman said Gardner will see two top orthopedic surgeons this week: Dr. James Andrews Monday or Tuesday and Dr. Tim Kremchek on Thursday. Gardner is seeing the latter at the behest of his agent, Joe Bick.

"Obviously, something's not right," Cashman said. "[The doctors] will try to figure this thing out because we don't have an answer to it . . . He's had more than enough rest. It should be fine by now."

This is the second setback Gardner has suffered since going on the DL, the first being May 10 after a second rehab outing.

In Gardner's absence, Girardi has been playing 40-year-old Raul Ibañez, signed primarily to be the team's designated hitter against righthanders, along with 35-year-old Andruw Jones in the outfield.

"We're running Jonesie and Raul out there a lot more than [we wanted]," Cashman said. "I don't want to overexpose the old guys out there, running them out there every day."

In their offseason pursuit of a designated hitter, the tie-breaker for Ibañez over fan favorites such as Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui was the organization's belief that Ibañez would be a better option in the outfield.

"Thankfully we did that," Cashman said. "But at the same time, you have to [watch them]. Joe's doing a great job doing his best to protect them, but we expected Gardy back twice now already and it's not working out for us. And I know no one's more frustrated than Gardy. And we're the next in line on that."

Asked if the prolonged injury will force him to address the July trade deadline differently, Cashman shrugged.

"We'll see how it all plays out," he said.

In terms of dialogue with other teams regarding an outfielder, Cashman added: "I haven't been looking around. I have not had any conversations with anybody about anything."