Reds finally unlocked the Miguel Andújar answer the Yankees could never manage

The 2018 New York Yankees were weird. Weird in almost every way. Coming off a magical 2017 campaign that ended inches from a World Series berth, they fired their manager (weird) and hired a replacement with no dugout experience. They traded for megastar Giancarlo Stanton, but watched their chief rival somehow (yes..."somehow"...) become unstoppable by hiring Alex Cora and bringing in equivalent-but-should-be-worse offensive star JD Martinez. They got spurned by Shohei Ohtani in the offseason, promoted top rookie Gleyber Torres mid-year, and still almost had the Rookie of the Year in ... third baseman Miguel Andújar, whose fielding was a circus, but whose helicopter bat paid the bills (except at Fenway, where the glove really kicked the Yankees in the groin).

Andújar kept the Yankees afloat during that frustrating and fist-shaking and, yes, very weird year, ripping 27 home runs and finishing second in the Rookie of the Year race to the fairly undeniable Ohtani. Still, the question loomed: Where did his future lie? Was he a DH? How could he share reps with Stanton as he aged? If he wasn't a third baseman, who was? Was he trade bait? Could anyone out their stomach him at third and value him highly enough to make sending the bat elsewhere worth it?

Unfortunately, the Yankees received the answer they least desired; Andújar popped something in his shoulder diving back into third base on a chilled April day, and he was essentially never the same (and never given another chance) in pinstripes. Andújar's bat was always his calling card, so it's no surprise "Andújar the Left Fielder" had no legs. Instead of becoming a flawed Yankees cornerstone, his name became cannon fodder for fake trade rumors (the vast majority of which mocked a Yankee fan straw man who didn't really exist, as always).

In order to approach some level of his former success, Andújar required two things the Yankees couldn't afford to give him: patience, and a lane to perma-DHing. After bouncing to Pittsburgh, he regained some confidence with the A's last summer, if not his power, hitting .285 with a .697 OPS in a 75-game sample. This year, he looked even better in Sacramento (.765 mark), got himself dealt to Cincinnati at the deadline, and has feasted in his first 10 games in the Queen City.

Former Yankees slugger Miguel Andújar looks all the way back as Cincinnati Reds DH

Now back in the playoff push, Andújar has begun his Reds career with a 1.247 OPS, three bombs, and a grand slam capper to vault Cincinnati just two games back of the Mets in the loss column for a Wild Card. He's getting an opportunity the Yankees never had room for, but he's making a lot of detractors swiftly eat their words after being asked to do what he does best: swing hard, swing even harder, and profit.

See? Trading for him wasn't so silly after all.