Trade Bait or Not?

When I saw Miguel Andujar on March 12th just before the Yankees-Nationals exhibition, no one could have forseen the way 2020 would unfold -- for baseball in general, or him in particular.

It's now been two seasons since he was the runner-up for American League Rookie of the Year. And his baseball future couldn't be more uncertain. There was that season-ending 2019 shoulder injury, followed by Gio Urshela's sudden emergence. This was to be the year Andujar was to become a super utilityman -- until he failed to smoothly adapt to 1st base or the outfield. At age 25, he was too young to become a fulltime DH -- not to mention that Giancarlo Stanton had first claim on that spot. So this natural hitter found himself exiled to "the alternate site" in Scranton. Hardly the best way to tap Andujar's talent.

A month into baseball's slow-so-far off-season, we're left to wonder if he's trade bait, or whether he'll get a fair shot at competing with Clint Frazier (and presumably Brett Gardner) for the left field job. Does he still have the confidence of Brian Cashman or are other organizations more positive about his future? 

As the Yankees try to close the gap with the pennant-winning Astros, Andujar is one of many question marks in a story not yet written.

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