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        <title><![CDATA[Miguel Andujar’s complicated Yankees fate comes down to this]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">Miguel Andujar’s complicated Yankees fate comes down to this</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Part I in a series analyzing the New York Yankees</em></p><p>Entering spring training of 2019, Miguel Andujar had worked extensively on becoming a better all-around fielding third baseman.</p><p>A lot had been made of Andujar’s 15 errors in 136 games (132 starts) in 2018 at third, <strong>but the offseason work focused</strong> on improving footwork and pre-pitch preparation. The Yankees believed progress in those areas would allow Andujar to get to more ground balls.</p><p>The errors?</p><p>Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado committed 14 errors in 152 games (140 starts) and won the sixth of seven straight NL Gold Gloves in 2018.</p><p>And of course there was Andujar’s bat, which before he reached the big leagues had been touted as above average by some and elite by others.</p><p>In Andujar’s first full big-league season (2018), the 23-year-old finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year to Angels’ two-way player Shohei Ohtani by hitting .297 with 27 homers, 92 RBIs and an .855 OPS.</p><p>“He was a guy who used all the fields and hit with power,’’ a scout said of the 2018 version of Andujar. “Defensively he couldn’t get his feet set and couldn’t get his arm in a consistent slot.’’</p><figure id="attachment_15560012"  class="wp-caption alignnone aligncenter"><strong><noscript><img data- data-src="/uploads/2020/04/miguel-andujar.jpg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" /><noscript><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/04/miguel-andujar.jpg" /></noscript></noscript><img class="lazyload" src='data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20210%20140%22%3E%3C/svg%3E' data- data-src="/uploads/2020/04/miguel-andujar.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Miguel Andujar</span><span class="credit">Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post</span></figcaption></figure><p>Now, after playing in a dozen games at the start of the 2019 season, undergoing surgery to repair a right labrum tear in May and <strong>the emergence of Gio Urshela</strong> at third, Andujar’s role with the Yankees was going to change this year.</p><p><strong>Should there be a season</strong>, expect Urshela to be the regular third baseman at the beginning, with Andujar playing third, left field — which he did in spring training — DH and possibly surface at first base, where he played a game in March. Of course all of that moving around will depend on Andujar’s shoulder being fully healed, which appeared to be the case in spring training.</p><p>How Urshela plays will impact Andujar’s role. Always known as a strong defender, the 28-year-old Urshela hit .314 with 21 homers, 74 RBIs and posted an .889 OPS in 132 games. In 167 games from 2015-18, Urshela hit .225 with eight homers, 39 RBIs and had a .589 OPS with the Indians and Blue Jays.</p><p>The question is: Can Urshela repeat or come close to duplicating those numbers? If he does, the 6-foot, 211-pound Andujar will require a number of different gloves to play positions that are foreign to him and already filled.</p><p>With Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Tauchman and possibly Clint Frazier, the Yankees have left field covered, but Stanton could see a lot of DH action. With the right-handed hitting Luke Voit and lefty-swinging Mike Ford at first, there isn’t a need there, and D.J. LeMahieu handled the position well in 40 games (28 starts) last year.</p><p>At 25, Andujar is young for full-time DH work. However, if healthy, he would be hard to keep out of the lineup with a bat people believe is elite and can reproduce its 2018 output.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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