It’s clear Miguel Andújar got screwed out of Super Two status

It’s possible the Yankees took advantage of Miguel Andújar.

Ah, so now we have more clarity as to why Miguel Andújar’s agent was furious with the New York Yankees in regards to the slugger’s playing time in 2021. Toward the end of the year, he called out the organization and it was not pretty. We’ll revisit those comments soon.

For now, we’ll get to the juicy stuff. On Tuesday, we learned three Yankees players earned Super Two status heading into the 2021 season: Clint Frazier, Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres. The Yankees couldn’t suppress Frazier for that long!

In case you’re not privy to Super Two status, it’s a designation that allows a player to reach arbitration before accruing three years of service time. Typically, players have pre-arbitration status for three years and then enter the arbitration process for another three, leaving them under team control for a total of six years.

For Super Two candidates, “players must rank in the top 22%, in terms of service time, among those who have amassed between two and three years in the Majors,” according to the official Major League Baseball website. In essence, a player’s big-league trajectory is expedited and they’re on their way to earning a raise much faster.

Andújar, after his uninspiring 2020 season, missed the cutoff by five days, according to reports.

The Yankees optioned Andújar to the alternate site on Aug. 6 and he returned to the team on the 17th before being optioned again on Sept. 15. His agent called out the team after the second transaction, questioning the timing of the decision and essentially making service-time manipulation accusations.

Here’s what Ulises Cabrera, Andújar’s agent, told Lindsey Adler of The Athletic back in September.

"“I think any person who’s involved in the business of baseball understands that there’s a large charade that has continued to be played when it comes to controlling assets, meaning players that are young, and productive. It’s clear that it’s highly beneficial for baseball teams to control high quality assets for as long as possible.”"

In this case, if anything, the Yankees were manipulating how much they’d have to pay Andújar, not necessarily his service time. Once he played a full season in 2018, his service time kicked in and he was be on track to become a free agent after the 2024 season.

We don’t know what the future holds for Andújar, but after Gio Urshela’s offseason surgery, you have to think he’s in line to potentially get playing time at the start of the year. Though he doesn’t necessarily fit on this roster as an everyday player, the Yankees typically have injury woes every season that require guys to step up off the bench.

However, the relationship has seemingly taken another hit from this update and we wouldn’t be surprised if Andújar and his agent expressed their frustration. That would seemingly indicate a trade is on the way, especially when you consider the presence of Urshela and Frazier for at least the next three years. Plus, Andújar is no stranger to trade rumors — he’s been mentioned in them for two years now.

We have no idea what to expect, but it’s clear that this piece of news doesn’t help matters whatsoever.

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