Yankees: Does latest injury news spell the end for Miguel Andújar in New York?

First it was Clarke Schmidt. Then it was Zack Britton. Then came scares with Clint Frazier and Luke Voit. Now it’s Miguel Andújar.

New York Yankees fans would really just love one offseason without mounting injury troubles, even though this is considered “light” for them if we compare it to the last four years.

Andújar is the latest Yankee to go down after manager Aaron Boone told the media at spring training on Sunday that the slugger was set to see a hand specialist on Monday.

The former Rookie of the Year runner up dealt with some wrist/hand soreness while playing in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, but it had subsided. Now it’s back to bothering him in recent weeks.

Miguel Andújar is the latest Yankee to go down with an injury this spring.

While Andújar’s chances of making the Opening Day roster were always slim — someone likely would’ve had to go down while he was forcing the issue himself — the fact that his 2021 season might be delayed could contribute to spelling the end of his tenure with the Yankees.

Despite that promising 2018 season, a shoulder injury in 2019 put him on the shelf for the entire year, and the shortened 2020 did him no favors after Gio Urshela had taken his job. Another slow start in 2021 or an inability to make some noise at Triple-A will surely further remove him from any future plans the Yankees may have had for him.

Though he’s since changed his agent, it’s hard to forget about last year’s drama when the Yankees demoted Andújar to the alternate site, which prompted inflammatory comments from his previous representation, suggesting that the 26-year-old deserved to be on a Major League roster, whether that was in New York or somewhere else.

The plan for Andújar this year was to use him as depth/a utility option, but fans were never really confident in that. His defense leaves a lot to be desired and it was already shaky at his primary position (third base). Using him at unfamiliar positions such as the corner outfield spots and first base hardly felt like a plausible solution.

Throwing injury uncertainty into the mix with a role that never really had legs (or really any room on the roster) puts his future with the organization into question, regardless of how you look at it. Andújar is someone who still needs to prove himself in a sense, and potentially losing reps right out of the gate is damaging for his journey.

Yankees’ plan for Miguel Andújar feels like it’s going to fail again

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to the media on Wednesday and touched on Miguel Andújar, but fans shouldn't be feeling optimistic.