Yankees Miguel Andujar Reminds of a Young Adrian Beltre

The world is finally getting its first real look at Yankees third base prospect Miguel Andujar. And already, people are wondering if his emergence will stop the team from pursuing Manny Machado after the 2018 season.

If you follow me on Twitter, then you know I’ve been driving the Miguel Andujar bus for the past six months. Last summer, all I had to go on was a few YouTube videos of Andujar’s Minor League performances and a scouting report or two. But then the No. 7 Yankees prospect according to MLB Pipeline made the Arizona Fall League All-Star Game.

Not even a week after debuting in Spring Training with a triple and a double, fans and media alike want to know how long until Andujar unseats Chase Headley as the everyday third baseman.

Andujar is about to turn 22 — the prime age for a prospect. Coming off a superb 2016 season at Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton, he well exceeded offensive expectations (.273 BA, 12 HR, 83 RBI).

If you’ve watched Andujar play at all this spring, you’ve witnessed his electric ability. The way he whips the bat through the strike zone. How he hustles out of the box — stretching a double into a triple. But you’ve also spotted that he’s a bit overzealous on defense.

His quick feet allow him to gracefully reach balls in play, yet his cannon for an arm needs to be calibrated for better accuracy. Last Friday, Andujar made a terrible overthrow that led to two runs scoring against fellow prospect Jordan Montgomery. Then on Monday, he was bailed out twice by leaping grabs by the first baseman.

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I get it — the kid is wound up. And rightfully so. But if he keeps this up we’ll be calling him Miguel ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn. In the minors last season, Andujar combined to make 22 errors, though he curtailed his mistakes from 15 down to seven after his promotion to Trenton. In five seasons down on the farm, Andujar has made a total of 99 errors. That’s a lot.

Overall, Andujar’s ability, demeanor, and recklessness remind of another third baseman — Adrian Beltre. I have no idea if Andujar doesn’t mind being touched on the head or not — but if the kid who grew up idolizing Alex Rodriguez can be half as good as the future Hall of Famer, then the Yankees may not need to spend an excess of $200M on Machado after all.

Beltre’s throwing accuracy has always been a bit suspect, having made 296 errors in 19 seasons for a .959 fielding percentage — yet he’s won five Gold Glove Awards. More times than not, Beltre makes the brunt of the routine plays — surprises with a dazzling grab here and there — and flat-out rakes. The ball explodes off the bat of the four-time Silver Slugger. And at age 37, there doesn’t appear to be any drop off in his game.

If I were the Yankees, this is the player I’d have Andujar emulate. Yankees vice president of baseball operations Tim Naehring told Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News that Andujar is “one of his favorite players to watch.”

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"“He can do things at third base,” Naehring continued. “Is he a finished product? No. But he’s got the tools to be impactful on the defensive side. And obviously if you watch him taking batting practice and you look at his physical size, I think he’s a guy that can hit for average, hit for power and use the whole field, so I’m really excited about him.”"