A's Reportedly Interested in Reunion With Player They Dealt to Reds Last Year

After trading him to the Reds at the Trade Deadline, the A's are looking to bring him back

Jul 23, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; General view of Cincinnati Reds hat during the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

When the A's traded Miguel Andujar to the Cincinnati Reds last year, GM David Forst made it clear that they had interest in re-signing the veteran as a free agent this winter. Well, he's still a free agent, but with a number of big bats off the market of late, Andujar's lefty mashing ability is starting to look really good to a few teams.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Rangers, Padres, Cardinals, Reds, Cubs and Athletics are among the teams that are in the mix for his services.

The A's claimed Andujar off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 2023 season, and in his year and a half with the A's he ended up hitting .290 with a .324 OBP and a .726 OPS. He's not a huge power bat, focusing more on contact over hard contact, but he does excel at mashing against left-handers.

While this could end up being a nice skill to have on the A's roster when the season begins, it's not exactly a mandatory addition for the A's to go after. They already have an offense that looks like at least a top-10 group, and Andujar would just make them that much better.

Adding Andujar could also be a cost-effective way to bolster the club without having to spend the financial or prospect capital it would take to add to the rotation. Outscoring the opposition is all that counts, no matter the score.

Against left-handers last season, Andujar went 35-for-90 (.389) with four home runs. He compiled six homers against righties all season in more than double the attempts (231). In terms of the advanced metrics, that works out to a 171 wRC+ (100 is league average) against southpaws, while also holding a 108 wRC+ against righties. He was solid against both sides, but exceled against lefties.

So how does this help the A's?

Since they extended Tyler Soderstrom this winter, it's tough to envision Andujar getting a lot of playing time out there. That could mean that he would become Lawrence Butler's platoon partner in right field, after Law struggled against lefties (as a lefty himself) in 2025.

Butler went just 22-for-117 (.188) against left-handers last season, while batting a league average .246 against right-handers. Some of his other numbers against lefties weren't great either, as he finished with a .228 on-base, a 39.8% strikeout rate, and a .570 OPS.

The worst OPS in baseball last season among qualified hitters (from both sides of the plate) was Milwaukee's Joey Ortiz at .593. Butler was a little below that against just southpaws, so it wouldn't be the worst idea to turn that into a strength for the roster by bringing in someone like Andujar, who is already familiar with the team, the Sacramento clubhouse, and could fill an obvious hole for the club.

The A's also have an internal option that could fill in with a similar role in Colby Thomas, who was used primarily against left-handers down the stretch in 2025. He ended up batting a cumulative .225 with a .267 OBP and six home runs, good for an 82 wRC+.

Against lefties, Thomas went 15-of-61 (.246) with all six of his homers. His walk rate was also much higher, at 8.7% compared to 1.6%, so his OBP was also decent at .304. In his limited sample, Thomas held a 136 wRC+, which is solid, but he was also striking out 36.2% of the time as a rookie.

The choice here would be between a veteran that has had proven success in the big leagues and will cost a little bit, or a rookie that could use some playing time to figure things out, but also provides slightly better defense and a lot more power potential while also making the league minimum.

Of course, the A's could also choose to use Andujar at third base on occasion, which is a spot he held at times last year once Soderstrom moved to left field. He's not the best glove over there, but he'd probably be the best option with the bat at the position heading into the season.