New York Yankees outfielder Miguel Andújar, frustrated by a lack of consistent playing time, has informed manager Aaron Boone that he wants to be traded, Héctor Gómez reports. Ken Rosenthal has since confirmed Gómez's report and adds that this is not the first time that Andújar has requested a trade because of playing-time concerns.
Andújar, 27, has played in just 12 games this season as he has been shuttled back and forth between Triple-A and the majors, and over that span has batted .268/.279/.317 with no home runs in 41 at-bats. Andújar on Friday was optioned back to the minors again. The return of Giancarlo Stanton from the injured list in addition to the hot hitting of veteran retread Matt Carpenter has created a roster crunch, and Andújar's performance to date wasn't enough to keep him on the active roster.
Not so long ago, Andújar looked like a core young player for the Yankees. In 2018 as a 23-year-old, Andújar batted .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs and 47 doubles in 149 games. For those efforts, he finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting. Since then, however, Andújar has dealt with injuries and also struggled badly at the highest level when healthy. As such, his desire to be traded is complicated by the likely reality that the Yankees would be able to get little in return for him.