New York Yankees: The Yankees put Miguel Andujar on the trade block?

In hopes of reeling in the big fish that is Manny Machado, the New York Yankees have reportedly been shopping Miguel Andujar who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting this past season, but why?

It is no secret that the New York Yankees will need to get rid of someone like Miguel Andujar should they sign Manny Machado.

But no one thought Miguel Andujar could be the one that the Yankees would potentially trade.

Well according to Jon Heyman, Andujar could be that guy.

Miguel Andujar is one of the best young players in the MLB.

Andujar batted .297 in 2018 with 27 home runs and 92 RBIs which allowed him to finish in second place for the AL Rookie of the Year, behind only Shohei Ohtani.

So, if he was one of the best players on the Yankees, and one of the best players in the league period, why would it cross anyone’s mind to get rid of him?

Andujar is on his rookie contract and will not hit the open market until 2024.

This means the Yankees would have a fantastic young player for basically nothing for the next five seasons.

So, how would it make sense in any way to trade Miguel Andujar and his cheap contract rather than someone like Didi Gregorius?

Gregorius is a free agent following the 2019 season and it would make a lot more sense for the Yankees to trade him to make room for Machado rather than Andujar.

Gregorius is a great player, he would obviously be missed should he be traded, but at the end of the day, baseball is a business.

Andujar has a much brighter future and he is under contract through 2023, rather than 2019 like Gregorius.

Another thing, Andujar has going for him is the fact that he didn’t undergo Tommy John surgery.

That will sideline him until at least June like Gregorius.

Not only that, but Andujar is a third baseman, not a shortstop.

Not a big deal at the end of the day, but Manny Machado’s preferred position is shortstop, not third base.

Even though Machado has a great deal of experience at third he has said on multiple occasions that he prefers shortstop to third.

However, just like Alex Rodriguez did when he put on those pinstripes, Machado will play where he’s put, but it may hurt the Yankees chances in signing Machado if he were told he’d be the third baseman.

So, how does it make sense at all for the Yankees to trade Andujar and his low-cost, rather than Gregorius?