Yankees would have to be blown away to trade Miguel Andujar

The Padres reportedly “love” Yankees third baseman, Miguel Andujar — so much so, that San Diego is said to have offered Brad Hand to New York, prior to last season’s trade deadline.

I can’t remember a time when a player yet to enter his sophomore season — having just come off a runner-up to the Rookie of the Year Award, garnered so much trade talk. But that’s the case for Yankees third baseman, Miguel Andujar.

The rumor mill is spinning because of the Yanks’ continued interest in four-time All-Star, Manny Machado. So perhaps, once Machado chooses his new employer, post-New Year, Andujar will have a better idea if he’s still in New York’s long-term plans.

However, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports, the San Diego Padres would “love” to add the 23-year-old Dominican-native.

They [Padres] do seek a third baseman, and Miguel Andujar is on their target list. They love Andujar, and aren’t a team that worries to much about the walk rate.More from Yankees NewsYankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signingAaron Judge’s ‘breadcrumbs’ showed he was never leaving Yankees, has more moves in mindYankees analyst Cameron Maybin projects surprise landing spot for Gary SánchezYankees swipe intriguing minor-league FA lefty flamethrower from BravesWhat does Carlos Rodón’s new jersey number mean for Domingo Germán?

In Heyman’s piece, he writes that’s Andujar is indeed on the trading block because the Yankees would like to keep Didi Gregorius at shortstop (once he returns from Tommy John surgery sometime this summer).

Machado has said he wanted to play shortstop for the next five years, or more, but he is thought to love the idea of going to the Yankees enough that that wouldn’t be a deal breaker (the White Sox might prefer him at third base, too, but they may not insist). A Yankees person said he sees Andujar eventually moving to first if Machado is brought in and eventually moved to third in the event of Gregorius re-signing.

Indeed, Andujar is still young and athletic enough to make a move across the diamond to first base. Considering many of his defensive issues in 2018 had to do with the accuracy of his throws, perhaps his above-average lateral movement would be a boon over the less than stellar bag work of incumbent first basemen, Luke Voit and Greg Bird.

Though there would be a bit of a learning curve, considering Andujar is hard at work this offseason bettering his “natural” third base position, signing Machado could facilitate a quick change in the organization’s philosophy.

On Sunday afternoon, Andy Martino of SNY.com said that the Padres actually offered, then closer, Brad Hand to the Yanks back in July for Andujar — which general manager Brian Cashman quickly denied.

How San Diego ever thought they stood a chance of acquiring a key cog in the Yankee machine, in the midst of a playoff race is beyond me.

Entertaining the idea of trading Andujar to the Padres, now, does come with some curiosity. After graduating a number of successful players to the big leagues, in addition to consummating trades involving budding farmhands over the past 18 months, the Yankees minor league system has fallen to No. 10, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com.

On the other hand, Callis ranks the Padres at No. 1 — so perhaps if the Yanks were so inclined, they could undoubtedly restock the cupboard with some combination of top prospects such as Fernando Tatis Jr. (SS), Mackenzie Gore (LHP), Francisco Mejia (C/OF) or Chris Paddack (RHP).

The bottom line is that if the Padres want Andujar bad enough, they’d be forced to part with their brightest young talents. Because taking a peek at their major league club, I highly doubt the Yanks would have any interest in the bloated contracts of veterans Eric Hosmer or Wil Myers.

At this stage in the winter, if Miguel Andujar remains a trade chip, many things should be in play — like a three-team deal with either the Giants or Indians for one of their bonafide aces.