Miguel Andujar, one of last season’s most impressive rookies, appears to be on the trading block according to Yankees rumors, and he could warrant some big returns.
Miguel Andujar is not your typical offseason trade candidate. He’s coming off of a season where he slashed .297/.328/.527 for the Yankees and was runner up in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He’s a 23-year-old third baseman who hit 26 home runs last year and doesn’t become a UFA until 2024. He’s on a team that is very ready to contend for a championship.
And, according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic, he’s on the market in Yankees rumors.
Rosenthal reports that rival execs have told him that the Yankees want to move Andujar, news that, for reasons mentioned above, is a little surprising. Most teams, especially ones like the Yankees, who are after big name free agents like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, dream about having a productive young players that will be cost controlled for years to come. On top of that the Yankees are poised to enter 2019 with a roster that looks pretty similar to last year’s 100 win group, circumstances that wouldn’t usually wouldn’t lead trading a cheap young talent.
But, here we are.
To be fair there is a caveat to the 100 wins thing; when your in the same division as the 108-win Red Sox a 100 win season isn’t the same as it would be in a division where you dominated, so it does make sense the Yankees want to make some changes to compete. This just wasn’t the first thing to came the mind, especially because the Yankees are going to be kind of thin in the infield while Didi Gregorius is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
If the Yankees do end up signing Manny Machado like they hope to these Yankees rumors would make a little more sense, especially if they added another cheaper infielder like Troy Tulowitski to help cover for Didi. Machado would be a major defensive upgrade at third, but he would also have a huge contract.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at a few potential trade destinations for Andujar.