Yankees rumors: 5 Trade Destinations for AL Rookie of the Year Runner Up Miguel Andujar
By Josh Ejnes
Miami Marlins
J.T. Realmuto seems to be one of the most pursued trade pieces this offseason, so why not move Andujar to try and get him? After the signing of Wilson Ramos by the Mets and reports from MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that the Braves are out of the Realmuto chase the Marlins are down a few suitors, so there’s no time like the present to try and make a deal before the market heats up again.
The Yankees upgrading at catcher makes a lot of sense. Gary Sanchez had a kind of lackluster year at the plate in 2018 that was disappointing in the context of his red hot first two seasons in the league, though he did improve at some defensive aspects like pitch framing; he saw his RscZ, which is Catcher Zone Runs Above Average improve from 1 in 2017 to 6 in 2018, which is better than Realmuto’s 2018 RscZ of -2.
His FRAA_ADJ, which is a more complete defensive stat, is also higher than Realmuto’s, so it would be a bit of a downgrade behind the plate on defense, though Realmuto’s consistent offense could certainly make up for it. At the plate Realmuto excels against right handed pitchers while Sanchez does better against southpaws, so a platoon could be a possibility if Sanchez isn’t moved; we also could see either play a little bit of first or DH throughout the season.
The Marlins are in a tough spot right now, having sold off most of their assets prior to Derek Jeter’s inaugural season as owner last year. There in a position right now where the most important thing for them to do is acquire good young players, a description that Andujar fits. He’s probably farther along than they need right now, but putting a better product on the field for the fans is in no way a bad thing, especially if it comes cheap.