Miguel Andujar has seen his time pass with New York Yankees

Once considered to be the future at third base for the New York Yankees, Miguel Andujar has seen his time pass by.

It was not that long ago that Miguel Andujar appeared to be a building block for the New York Yankees. The young third baseman had an impressive 2018 campaign, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year balloting, but had seen his career derailed by injuries.

On Thursday, his time with the team may have officially passed him by. The Yankees optioned Andujar and two other players to their alternate training site.

Based on that 2018 season, it was easy to imagine that the Yankees had found their third baseman of the future. Andujar had a .297/.328/.527 batting line in his 606 plate appearances, hitting 47 doubles and 27 homers. While his defense was rough, the bat was more than enough to make up for those issues.

Andujar appeared to have a firm grasp of the third base job until he was felled by a shoulder injury. Although he attempted to return after missing all of April, he lasted for just nine games before going back on the shelf for the rest of the year. Due to the injury, he had just six hits, none of which went for extra bases, in 49 plate appearances.

While Andujar was sidelined, the Yankees found another possible third baseman of the future. Gio Urshela, who was acquired from the Blue Jays as a depth piece on August 4, 2018, put together a career year, seemingly entrenching himself into the lineup. As he carried his excellent 2019 into this season, the Yankees were left looking for a place for Andujar.

This was a problem that had been anticipated in spring training, as he was getting looks in the outfield. However, with the Yankees outfield finally healthy, and Luke Voit performing well at first, there is no place for Andujar. And that may not change.

It was not long ago that Miguel Andujar looked like a building block for the New York Yankees. Now, his time may have passed him by.