Yankees rumors: 5 Trade Destinations for AL Rookie of the Year Runner Up Miguel Andujar
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.
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.
Seattle Mariners
After a being competitive for most of the season in 2018 Jerry Dipoto appears to have decided that the Astros won’t be beat, so the Mariners should blow it up. As mentioned in the last slide Andujar is a great guy to rebuild around, so Seattle is definitely a possible trade destination for him.
27 year old outfielder Mitch Haniger is probably the most attractive asset still under the Mariner’s control, coming off of an all star season where he slashed .285/.366/.493. Haniger is cost controlled until 2023, but he’s also 4 years older than Andujar, and when you’re just starting a rebuild youth is premium. The addition of Haniger’s bat the Yankee roster would give them more outfield flexibility, allowing Giancarlo Stanton to float between playing in the field and DHing however he/the team see fit.
Haniger would offer a more balanced bat to a power heavy Yankee outfield. According to Fangraphs Haniger’s 22% strikeout rate is a little below average, but his outfield counterparts Judge and Stanton have 31% and 30% strikeout rates respectively. This makes sense with their power output and style of hitting, but you can’t stack your lineup exclusively with power guys (Judge’s surprisingly good OBP aside).
This, like most hypotheticals that involve moving Andujar, only really makes sense if the Yankees add Manny Machado. The Yankees outfield is fine as it is if no real infield help is brought in to the team, and Andujar is too good to trade unless giving playing time to a superstar becomes part of the equation.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox said they aren’t trading Jose Abreu but I don’t totally believe them. The team’s championship window isn’t really opening until next year at the earliest, and with Abreu in his walk year it might be their best bet to move him while they can still get value out of him.
Abreu isn’t a someone that the Yankees necessarily need, but he’s a great power hitter that can make any line up stronger. If the Yankees are willing to play Giancarlo Stanton in the field a little bit giving Abreu the opportunity to both DH and split time at first with Luke Voit they stand to add a bat that could help them break last years home run record.
Andujar would fit in great on the Sox’s young squad. Yolmer Sanchez had some good moments last year, and is in many ways the heart and soul of the Sox, but his stats overall are more indicative of a utility back up than starting third baseman on a championship level team. An infield that includes Andujar, Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada is one that could be scary for a long time, and if the trade proposition ever comes up is certainly worth exploring.
The main thing that complicates this possibility is Abreu’s contract. The Yankees would be giving up Andujar, an arbitration eligible player going into his second full season, for Abreu’s $13 million contract, money that would be tough to swallow; to make the money work the Yankees would likely have to add on Brett Gardner, which makes the whole deal less attractive to the Sox, giving them a salary they don’t need while thinning out the depth of the Yankees outfield.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers are in the worst position of any team in the AL West, though the Mariners sure have been during their part to try and meet them at the bottom. Could Miguel Andujar be the future of their franchise? It’s tough to know for sure, but the idea is interesting enough where the Rangers should consider giving the Yankees a call if they sign Machado.
The current Rangers infield is an extremely young, rough group. The addition of Andujar to the roster would give them a more complete young player for the rest of the core to grow along with, and he’d definitely make the infield overall a lot better. Jurickson Profar, showed major improvement last year, and with Andujar playing a consistent third base the Rangers would be free to use Profar in the super utility role that he’s best suited for.
The Rangers have two pitchers that could be interesting as trade pieces to the Yankees. Mike Minor would be a very solid fifth starter to have on the back burner in case C.C. Sabathia or James Paxton get injured, but he’s only worth pursuing if the Rangers are willing to eat a good portion of the $9.5 million that he’s owed next year. Jesse Chavez, who looked impressive with the Cubs at the end of the year, could be an attractive bullpen option, but the Rangers just signed him, and likely wouldn’t be willing to part with him so soon.
Either pitcher (or both) would only be worth Andujar if some prospects are involved, and even then it’s a stretch. Once again, only an option worth considering if Machado is locked down. It’s tough to come up with good trade destinations for Andujar because it’s hard to argue that he should be traded, but the Rangers are on of the teams that could use him the most so they should be part of the conversation.
New York Mets
The Noah Syndergaard trade rumors that were so prevalent over the past few weeks appear to have calmed down, but there’s still a lot of off-season to go and Brodie Van Wagenen has at times seemed hellbent on moving the Mets ace. A trade that moved Syndergaard to the Bronx in exchange for Andujar would cause uproars in the Bronx and Queens, but it’s not entirely out of the question.
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Andujar, in many ways is a player the Mets need. Even if Todd Frazier has a bounce back season this year he in no way is the Mets’ third baseman of the future, so it might be best to start exploring other options now which would allow Frazier to be used as a possible trade piece (if they can find someone to take on his contract). Andujar’s 126 OPS+ would be good for third out of players on the current Mets roster behind Robinson Cano and Brandon Nimmo, and only Michael Conforto had more homeruns. Nimmo into Cano into Andujar into Conforto is a pretty scary top of the order that would be worth giving up a lot for.
But is it worth Thor? Syndergaard has had durability issues, starting only 32 games in the last 2 seasons combined, but when he’s been on the field he’s been phenomenal. His fastball sits around 98 MPH, and his slider has an incredible 45% whiff rate, which makes sense because it can come at you as fast as 96 MPH. To get rid of him the Mets would need a lot, and could justify asking for more than Andujar.
If this trade did happen it would make both fanbases very mad, and it’s not totally likely because the Yankees don’t need Thor, having picked up James Paxton and J.A. Happ during this offseason. Still, that they’ve shown interest before shows it’s not impossible; Thor would bring more youth to a rotation that right now includes two starters who are nearing 40.
dark. Next. 5 non-Machado Yankee IF options
Yankees rumors often get blown out of proportion over the winter, but there is a chance that there are some legs to this rumor, and these are a few of the spots that Andujar could end up.