Yankees: Why they should not trade away Miguel Andujar
By Carl Scott
Instead of trading away their young star for a starting pitcher, the Yankees need to hold on to Miguel Andujar this offseason. I get it, we need pitching — but we desperately need Andujar’s bat too.
It’s safe to say Miguel Andujar bailed out the Yankees in 2018. When projected starting third baseman Brandon Drury went down with an injury to start the season, Andujar filled in and never look back.
Before we start advocating for the Yanks to begin shopping a valuable trade chip like Andujar, let’s evaluate our strengths and weaknesses. Our pitching needs the most improvement. However, our offense isn’t invincible. Injuries slowed us down in 2018, but we also relied on home runs and walks too often.
Our patience at the plate led to a very high on-base percentage, but walks don’t drive in runners on the basepaths (unless the bases were loaded). We need more guys in our lineup like the aggressive Andujar. Every time he’s in the batter box, he’s trying to hit the ball hard anywhere on the field. His consistent approach led him to a fantastic rookie season.
Andujar finished the season with a team-leading .297 average, and he hit a historic amount of doubles. His team-leading 47 doubles broke Joe DiMaggio’s franchise record and tied 1975 MVP Fred Lynn’s AL rookie record of doubles in a season. It’s no surprise why Andujar is a finalist for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
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According to Fangraphs, the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox led the majors with a .268 batting average. Meanwhile, the Yankees ranked 16th among all MLB teams with a .249 average. Unsurprisingly, the 2017 Houston Astros led the majors in batting average last year and went on to win the World Series. It appears that pairing a high team batting average with solid starting pitching is the winning combination for a championship.
So does it make any sense to trade away the hitter on our team who had the highest batting average? Why would we deal a great developing player who comes at a meager price?
One could argue it would be a power move for the Yankees to trade Andujar for Corey Kluber of the Indians. But then the Yankees would need to sign a third baseman while still having a hole at shortstop or second — depending on where you move Gleyber Torres.
Superstar free agent, Manny Machado could play shortstop or third base, but you’ll have to offer him a mega-deal, and the club was reportedly lukewarm on him after his recent postseason antics.
Not to mention, the Yanks still need a lefty power bat and another starting pitcher because the starting staff isn’t great. Bryce Harper comes to mind, but I doubt he comes to New York since he’s very expensive and he’d be another outfielder on the roster.
The Yankees have plenty of money to spend on a historically impressive free agent class. There’s no reason to trade away an essential piece of their championship puzzle already in place. Because of his age, Andujar should become a core member of the team for years to come. Don’t trade this kid; he’s too good.