The New York Yankees are going to experiment with Miguel Andujar playing other positions in Spring Training. This could lead to an expanded role on the 2020 Yankees or a trade.
In 2018, Miguel Andujar arrived on the scene in New York in a big way, hitting .297/.328/.527 for a 130 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR. His follow-up act didn’t go so well as he racked up -1.0 WAR in a year lost to injuries. Combine that with the breakout of Gio Urshela, Andujar went from the New York Yankees third basemen to a possible trade candidate.
Andujar will look to show the Yankees and 29 other teams that he is healthy this Spring Training. He will also be using two more gloves, as the Yankees will work him out as an outfielder and a 1B.
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For a Yankees team that was decimated by injury in 2019, it is a no brainer that they would want him to have positional flexibility. For Andujar, this could help him find ABs on a deep Yankees team outside of 3B. It also makes sense for both sides because no matter your preferred metric, Andujar was dreadful at 3B totaling -25 DRS and -11 Outs Above Average (OAA).
Will Andujar find success at either of these positions?
There are a number of compelling reasons Andujar could be good in the OF and at 1B. Starting with the OF, Andujar is an above-average runner, averaging 27.8 feet/second which is in the top 30% of all MLB players. That speed alone makes him comparable to other CF capable guys like Kevin Pillar, Mitch Haniger, and Jackie Bradley Jr.
Before his labrum surgery, Fangraphs pegged Andujar’s arm as a 70 on the 20/80 scale, in other words, he has a cannon that could cut down a lot of runners trying to take extra bases. Even if his arm isn’t at 100%, Andujar has the raw tools to be an impact RF that plays LF because Aaron Judge is over there.
Moving onto 1B, we need to understand what makes Andujar such a liability at the hot corner. Looking at OAA, Andujar was actually average on balls to his forehand and behind him. The problems start on balls in front of him where he is -3 OAA.
His biggest defensive liability though is to his backhand side where he is -8 OAA and third-worst in baseball. Andujar’s problem in the infield boils down to backhand balls.
Moving over to 1B might be a waste of his arm, but Andujar would have less to worry on his backhand since the 2B can cover that. The Yankees have struggled with 1B production as no one has seized the job full-time so if Andujar can maintain his offense and be passable on defense which he has the tools to do.
There are a few different paths forward for Andujar. Whether his future is in New York or somewhere else, Andujar has still has tons of team control so another team could envision him as a strong bat that can be a primary OF, chip in at 1B, and 3B in a pinch.
For the Yankees, Andujar could rotate around the corners and see some time as a DH to prove that he is healthy. A lot of Andujar’s future is linked to 3B Gio Urshela. If Urshela is for real, Andujar could find himself moving to another team as the centerpiece of a Yankees upgrade.
Miguel Andujar’s return to the diamond now with an uncertain future will be one of the most interesting storylines to watch for the New York Yankees.