|
MIGUEL ANDUJAR, THIRD BASEMAN
|
| Born: March 2, 1995 Height: 6’0″ Weight: 211 Bats: Right Throws: Right Signed: Int’l Free Agent, 2011, New York Yankees How Acquired: Waiver Claim (from Yankees) Country: Dominican Republic Agent: The MAS+ Agency |
WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE |
| Andujar was the Yankees’ top international signing in the 2011-12 signing period. He’s shown the ability to hit for average and power, and he doesn’t strike out a great deal. His biggest flaw as a hitter has been low walk rates. He had a big rookie season for the Yankees in 2018, but missed much of 2021 and nearly all of 2019 with injuries. With the pandemic in 2020, that gave him three years of limited playing time. By 2022, the Yankees seemed to have lost interest in him and he spent most of the season in AAA. On the defensive side, the scouting reports in his prospect days said he had good range at third, along with a very good arm. He’s always been error-prone, though, and the metrics since he’s been in the majors rate him very poorly. In the last few years, he’s played a lot in left and a little at first. The Pirates obtained Andujar off waivers near the end of the 2022 season.
2012 In his debut season, Andujar mostly struggled. He skipped the DSL, though, and played the season at age 17. 2013 Andujar returned to the GCL and broke out, hitting for average and power. Baseball America ranked him 18th in the Yankees’ system. 2014 The Yankees moved Andujar up to low A. His overall numbers were just OK, but that was due to some early-season struggles. He put up strong months in July and August. BA ranked him 10th in the system. 2015 In the pitching-dominated FSL, Andujar had a weak season overall. This time he struggled badly for the first three months, but again hit well in the last two. BA rated him the Yankees’ 12th-best prospect. 2016 The Yankees sent Andujar back to high A and he hit very well in the first half. The team moved him up to AA for the second half and, as he had at new levels previously, he got off to a slow start there. BA again ranked him 12th in the system and the Yankees added him to their 40-man roster after the season. 2017 Back in AA, Andujar hit well from the start and, this time, continued hitting when he moved up at mid-season. He got a brief callup and played one game in the majors in late June, then two more at the end of the season. BA ranked him 5th in the system. 2018 Andujar spent the entire season with the Yankees and had a big year, finishing second only to Shohei Ohtani in the Rookie of the Year voting. 2019 Andujar missed most of the season due to a right shoulder injury that ultimately required labrum surgery. He got into only a dozen games in the majors, along with three rehab games. 2020 In the pandemic season, Andujar shuttled back and forth between the majors and the Yankees’ alternate site. His hitting dropped off sharply from 2018. He played as much in left as at third, the first time he’d ever played any other position. 2021 Injuries struck again, as Andujar missed most of April and then most of the second half with a wrist injury. When he got into action in the majors, he hit for some power but didn’t hit well overall. He spent most of his time in left. 2022 Andujar spent the bulk of the season in AAA, where he hit well. He again didn’t do much in his limited time with the Yankees. He played mostly in left. The Pirates acquired him on waivers with about ten days left in the season. He started five games at DH and four in left for them. He didn’t play first base. In one of their endlessly incomprehensible decisions, the Pirates were determined to go with Zack Collins there. Andujar was eligible for salary arbitration, but settled with the Pirates on a salary of $1.525M. As it turned out, though, they designated him for assignment when they signed Andrew McCutchen. Surprisingly, he cleared waivers; not surprisingly, it appears he accepted assignment to AAA, which let him keep the salary. There wasn’t much of a role for him with McCutchen signed, but it’s certainly possible he’ll return to Pittsburgh at some point. UPDATE: Andujar got off to a good start for Indianapolis and the Pirates called him up at the end of April. He had a big debut, homering in each game of a doubleheader, although the second one was off a position player. After that he went 1-for-26 and played badly on defense. The Pirates designated him for assignment again in mid-May. Not surprisingly, he again cleared waivers and accepted assignment to AAA. |
|
CONTRACT INFORMATION
|
| 2023: $1,525,000 2022: $1,300,000 2019: $617,600 |
|
PLAYER INFORMATION
|
| Signing Bonus: $750,000 MiLB Debut: 2012 MLB Debut: 6/28/2017 MiLB FA Eligible: 2023 MLB FA Eligible: 2025 Rule 5 Eligible: Eligible Added to 40-Man: 11/18/2016 (since removed) Options Remaining: 0 (USED: 2017, 2020, 2022) MLB Service Time: 3.161 |
|
TRANSACTIONS
|
| July 20, 2011: Signed by the New York Yankees as an international free agent. November 18, 2016: Contract purchased by the New York Yankees. September 22, 2022: Designated for assignment by the New York Yankees. September 25, 2022: Claimed off waivers from the New York Yankees by the Pittsburgh Pirates. January 20, 2023: Designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates, outrighted to AAA on Januuary 26. April 29, 2023: Called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. May 19, 2023: Designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates; outrighted to AAA on May 22. |
