The New York Yankees could be going into Spring Training with a battle for their starting third baseman between Miguel Andujar and Gio Urshela. Who should get the job?
Gio Urshela was one of the breakout stars for the New York Yankees in 2019 after the team had to endure what seemed like an endless amount of injuries.
Urshela had an outstanding .314 batting average with over 20 home runs in 132 games last season.
But there is the possibility that he may not even be the starter come Opening Day.
Remember Miguel Andujar? Of course you do. He arguably should’ve won the Rookie of the Year award in 2018 over Shohei Ohtani.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
But he was sidelined in 2019 after injuring his shoulder while diving back into third base. He made just 47 plate appearances, hitting .128 with six hits.
So Aaron Boone might have a dilemma trying to decide who should be the third baseman.
But I believe that Gio Urshela should be the starting third baseman heading into Spring Training. He came in and he earned that title of being a starter, so in my view, I believe that Miguel Andujar is going to have to take the starting spot away from Urshela by outperforming him.
Andujar is a solid player but I just think that even though he had no control over the injury, he shouldn’t just get the job back without outperforming the guy that just hit over .300 in place of him.
I also think that Andujar would be one of the major pieces to be dealt back to a team if Brian Cashman were to make a trade for a superstar player like Josh Hader because of the depth the Yankees have around the infield with many versatile players.
As for now, Andujar is still a member of the New York Yankees but that doesn’t mean he should be the starting third baseman coming off of his shoulder injury.