Miguel Andújar Requests Trade From Yankees After Latest Demotion
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Miguel Andújar has requested a trade from the Yankees.
Héctor Gómez was first to report that Andújar—who was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday night—informed manager Aaron Boone of his desire to be dealt to another club. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic later confirmed.
Andújar was sent down to open a roster spot for Giancarlo Stanton as the slugger returned from the injured list. In Stanton's place, Andújar—who has expanded his defensive versatility in recent years to play in both the infield and outfield—was hitting .250 (9-for-36) with three RBI and three runs scored.
Rosenthal added in his report that this isn't the first time Andújar has asked out because of his "lack of a consistent opportunity." The 27-year-old has a reason to be frustrated as he's been unable to secure a spot on New York's big-league roster for the last four years.
As a rookie, in 2018, Andújar looked like the Yankees' third baseman of the present and the future. Across 149 games, the organization's former No. 4 prospect hit .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs and 47 doubles. He finished second in the race for the American League Rookie of the Year Award behind Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
Since then, however, Andújar has been either injured or strapped onto the Scranton Shuttle, biding his time in Triple-A between brief appearances in the Bronx. He's played in just 90 MLB games from 2019 leading up to this latest demotion, batting .234 with a .589 OPS in that span.
Viewed primarily as a left fielder at this point in his career, even a solid stretch in May wasn't enough for Andújar to stick around. With Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Joey Gallo and now Stanton all healthy, there's less of a need for New York to carry an additional outfielder, a player that's still seeking to prove that he's not a liability on defense.
On the bench, Andújar was the odd man out as Matt Carpenter and Marwin Gonzalez provide value in different ways. Gonzalez is able to fill in all over the infield (in addition to left field) while Carpenter has given New York a power surge since he signed last month, hitting four home runs in his first seven games with the team.
New York isn't obligated to part ways with Andújar, but they've shown in recent history a willingness to move on from some of this organization's best former prospects. This offseason, the Yankees said goodbye to outfielder Clint Frazier, catcher Gary Sánchez, infielder Tyler Wade and more.
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