Miguel Andujar said Yankees manager Aaron Boone yesterday that he wants to be traded, reports Hector Gomez from Z101 Digital (Twitter link). Andujar was selected for Triple-A after last night’s game as the Yankees needed to open a roster spot Gian Carlo Stanton‘s activation from the 10-day injured list today.
acc Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, this isn’t the first time Andujar has asked to be treated as the infielder/outfielder has gone from being a future cornerstone to what appears to be an afterthought in New York’s roster. After finishing second in the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year poll, Andujar has played just 90 major league games since the start of the 2019 season. Injuries were a factor in this lack of playing time as Andujar missed most of the 2019 season due to shoulder surgery and also missed a notable part of the 2021 season due to wrist problems.
With Andujar missing so much time, the Yankees simply switched to other players — mostly Gio Urschelwho enjoyed a major breakout season in 2019 when he replaced Andujar at third base. Andujar hasn’t necessarily been viewed as a long-term defensive fit at third base anyway, but as a shift toward mostly outfield and first base work over the past few years hasn’t created a clearer path to a regular lineup spot either.
When not on the IL, Andujar was being bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the Majors. He’s still consistently producing at Triple-A levels, which could give other teams an indication that 27-year-old Andujar can bounce back in a new environment and with consistent playing time at big-league levels. Unsurprisingly, Andujar is frustrated with his situation, but given his injuries and his 0.234/0.260/0.329 slash over 319 PA from 2019-22, Andujar’s trade value isn’t exactly high.
Andujar has been mentioned in trade rumors for a number of years, and Erik Boland of Newsday just reported last March that the Yankees would be buying back Andujar to other teams. While Yankees GM Brian Cashman certainly wasn’t open to offers to buy in 2019 or 2020, Andujar’s stock just hasn’t rallied to the point where New York could still make a big return on a deal.
It’s possible that Cashman could try to move Andujar to another post-hype project type or a reclamation project, or perhaps include Andujar as part of a larger commercial package. Of course, the Yankees are also under no obligation to actually trade Andujar since he’s under team control during the 2024 season. Andujar earns $1.3 million in 2022, his first year of arbitration.