Miguel Andújar is looking to move on from the New York Yankees‘ organization. The 27-year-old Andújar (seen above during a June 2 game against the Los Angeles Angels), who’s played both outfield and third base for the Yankees, made a limited debut with them in 2017 and then particularly shone in 2018, finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting that season (behind only Shohei Ohtani). Since that point, though, he’s only appeared in 90 games for the team thanks to a combinations of injuries and competition for spots, and he was optioned to their triple-A affiliate (the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders) Friday. On Saturday, Dominican Republic sports reporter Héctor Gómez (of radio station Z101 Digital) reported that Andújar has asked the team for a trade:
https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1533129847085604864
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic later confirmed this:
Source confirms: Miguel Andújar has requested a trade from the Yankees. Not the first time he has asked out because of his lack of a consistent opportunity. First: @hgomez27
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 4, 2022
Through 12 games he’s appeared in this season, Andújar has posted 11 hits, four runs and no home runs with a .268/.279/.317 slash line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage). It’s understandable why that might not be enough to earn a regular place in a crowded Yankees’ lineup, especially with so many other people there posting higher OBP and SLG numbers. But it’s also understandable why he might be looking for a place where he can play more regularly; perhaps a more standard major league rhythm could help him improve his on-base and slugging numbers.
As Rosenthal notes, though, this isn’t the first time Andújar has asked for the Yankees to let him go, and that hasn’t happened yet. We’ll see if the outcome winds up being any different this time around. But it is certainly interesting to see a player who did that well in Rookie of the Year voting sink into some level of irrelevance since then, and that is perhaps at least partly thanks to limited opportunities. We’ll see what happens with Andújar’s trade request.
[The Athletic; photo from Brad Penner/USA Today Sports]
