The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar off waivers from the Pirates and selected outfielder Lazaro Armenteros. The A’s also outrighted left-handers Anthony Kay and Easton Lucas, as well as right-handers Tayler Scott and Chad Smith to Triple-A Las Vegas. The move on Armenteros was reported last week.
Andujar, 29 in March, had a tremendous season with the Yankees in 2018, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting to Shohei Ohtani. But since then, he hasn’t been given an extended stretch of playing time in the big leagues. Shoulder surgery put him out of action for much of 2019 and Gio Urshela stole the third base job in the Bronx while he was gone. Since then, he has generally crushed in the minors but struggled when given brief looks in the majors.
2023 continued that pattern, with Andujar in the Pirates organization. He was up in the majors for a couple of weeks from late April to mid-May but hit just .161/.212/.387. But his Triple-A season was far stronger, as he hit .338/.404/.536 at that level. He got back to the big leagues as a September call-up and was able to post an excellent line .302/.351/.528 in the final month of the season.
Given that encouraging finish, the Bucs could have held onto Andujar but he was projected for an arbitration salary of $2.2MM and is out of options. He was also limited to playing first base and the outfield corners in 2023, both in the majors and in the minors. The Pirates decided to move on but the A’s have come in to claim him.
The latter club has traded away their most established big leaguers in recent years, which perhaps makes Oakland the ideal landing spot for Andujar. He will be competing for playing time in the first base/corner outfield/designated hitter mix with Ryan Noda, Seth Brown, Brent Rooker, JJ Bleday and others. If he is finally able to click in the majors again, he can be retained for another season via arbitration, though the A’s would likely trade him in that scenario.
Kay, 28, was just claimed off waivers a couple of weeks ago. He has a 5.59 ERA in 85 1/3 career innings at the major league level. He tossed 40 2/3 innings in the minors this year, between the Mets and Cubs, with a 3.76 ERA in that time.
Lucas, 26, just came of the A’s in the deadline deal that sent Shintaro Fujinami to the O’s. He was added to the roster in early September and made his major league debut, allowing six earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. He tossed 46 2/3 frames in the minors for the year across different levels and organizations, with a 3.86 ERA across those clubs.
Scott, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in July. He had a 5.60 ERA in the majors in 2023, splitting time between three different clubs. Between three different Triple-A clubs, he logged 38 1/3 innings with a 1.64 ERA.
Smith, 28, was acquired from the Rockies in the last offseason. He went on to throw 13 2/3 innings for the A’s in 2023 with a 6.59 ERA. His 34 2/3 innings in Triple-A didn’t go any better, with a 7.53 ERA in that time.
Called it
Best thing that could happen to this guy at this point in his career tbh.
Well, the A’s got nothing to lose and so is Miguel…
Pretty much the MOST A’s thing to do….. Hope he hits then they can grab a decent lottery tix.
Andujar played 149 games for the Yankees in 2018, finished second in ROY voting. 2.9 WAR
Since then he’s played 144 games total and has cumulative negative WAR.
It’s just a blip on his path to the Hall.
Well, Andujar may finally get his first shot since 2018 for regular playing time without being blocked, or put on the hot seat immediatley. Wish we could have kept him, though I understand why we let him go. Banking on a good three week stretch after over four years of injuries and poor play isn’t a good bet, especially if the Pirates want to try and be decent next year.
MLB-If the Pirates want to try to be decent next year they would have kept him.He could have DH’ed and played right field and 1B,
They may have something up their sleeve for first base although Rivas hit right handlers decently and was a good first baseman.
I hope that Andujar hits 350 next year.
If so the A’s will get a good young player in trade for him.
The Pirates have committed to Palacios,Joe,and Davis and we will see how that works out.
He’s barely played any first base in the minor leagues, and the Pirates would be betting on three good weeks after nearly five down seasons. I definitley would not want him as the regular right fielder going into next year. The Pirates had already passed him through waviers twice, so I get why they tried to do it a third time. Kinda wish we had kept Rivas, though a league average hitter against RHP only is not all that rare.
He played first base in AAA for much of the year.He couldn’t have been worse than Connor Joe.
He definitely was better than Henry Davis in right field.Henry needs to play in AAA once they determine where he plays.That should have been done well before now.
I doubt that Cherington thought that Andujar would clear waivers after hitting 320 and clearly does not want him anyway.
Rivas and Andujar would have been a stopgap respectable duo..Belt is projected at $15M.Would you pay him?
The Pirates need pitchers,and lots of them.That is where Cherington needs to concentrate on.
If they do not significantly upgrade,they will have wasted another rebuild year while all other central teams will be passing them by.
He didn’t really play first base for much of the minor league season. He played only 257 innings there this year and saw a lot more time at right field and DH. A Rivas/Andujar platoon is not a confidence inspiring duo. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say its a respectable stopgap, especially when there’s no one in the minors to take over the position long term. Plus, Andujar had a solid 50ish plate appearance stretch in September, the first time since 2018 he’s looked semi decent in the majors, was good enough to anoint him a semi-regular for next season? Sorry but I don’t get the love for Andujar.
I don’t think Belt is going to make $15 minion next season. It might be an overestimate on mlbtrs end, but is a platoon 1B really worth $15 million? If the difference between Belt and Rhys Hoskins in 2023 is $3 million, then just go after Hoskins. And if Belt really does end up worth that much, they’ll probably either go after one of the cheaper options in Carlos Santana or Jeimer Candelario, or trade for a first baseman. Imo, I’d really like Brandon Drury from the Angels.
Again, the point is that it doesn’t seem like the Pirates gave Andujar a fair shot in terms of appearances with the big club. You talk “three good weeks” when he had literally months of tearing the cover off the ball at Indy
Where the Pirates are concerned, it’s interesting to read you wouldn’t want him in RF. Setting aside the idea that the team could use the offensive firepower, who exactly played better than him in RF? All options were equally average, at best
Meanwhile, here’s hoping that the Pirates give Triolo a long look at 1st and perhaps, Davis, to boot
They have the pieces in place and hopefully will focus their spending on pitching, which they need desperately. How does one put faith in the idea that three injured starters will be ready when the team comes north, or that their minor league studs will be stoppers?
He did great at TripleA, not denying that, but after years of struggling in the big, and only three good weeks in the majors, a few good months at Triple-A shouldn’t be the greencard for automatic playing time for Andujar.
Mlb- Do you really want them to spend $8M on Carlos Santana again?
Belt may not get $15 M but he will get $10 M.
Andujar played at most three times a week in September.The immortal Connor Joe played practically every day.
I am not saying that the two would play like Willie McCovey but the Pirates need starting pitching very badly as many other teams do and they historically have never been able to produce it internally.
Any minor leaguers are at least two-three years away from becoming decent to good ML starters except for Skenes.
I don’t have love for Andujar but they have never given him a full time chance for two months to find out what they had.
It is a moot point at this point and Cherington will have to live with the results good or bad.
Hoskins is the worst full time first baseman that I have ever seen,That is a big reason why the Phillies will not resign him.
Like the Phillies have decided,defense is very important,and the Pirates need to follow suit.
Inevitable
So that’s the one move they’ll make this offseason. FU JOHN FISHER!!!
Can’t wait for Andujar to hit .275 with 15 bombs before the trade deadline so the Cardinals can trade a future MVP and Cy Young winner for him.
I always thought the cards have been pretty decently ran. Am I wrong or since there’s no sarcasm font, are you joking? Just wondering
Just joking but honestly wouldn’t call it well run at this point.
Down year. Wainwright wasn’t himself and having to replace a couple of H.O.F caliber players. They’ll be back soon.
They have quite a mess on their hands and it’s been a few years coming. Fans are having a hard time believing this front office has what it takes to figure this out given their recent transaction history.
OR the cards could trade 5 Single A ball players that will never make it to the show like the Braves have done to acquire Murphy and Olsen.
I’d be fine if they traded Diaz for a bucket of balls.
Seems somewhat strange that the Pirates took a chance on Andujar resurrecting his career through the farm system, which he did, and then let him go. While he ripped it up at AAA, his September stay here was very promising.
I guess what’s confounding is that the Pirates have big questions in right field and at 1st base and surely could use some additional power. I don’t wish to overvalue Andujar, but it sure seems like he didn’t get a good look at the MLB level
Was this just a case of the Pirates thinking no one would pick him up and he’d be back?
It appeared that Shelton or Cherington didn’t want to use Andujar often after he was promoted.
While he indeed tore up hitting at Indy, he was never really given the opportunity to play at the major league level.
I hope the A’s can resurrect his career next season
The only way he would been back for 2024 is if no other team wanted him. After being held in minors and dfa would you want to come back to the Pirates?
Not a single team thought he was worth anything more than a waiver claim. Their scouts seen him and they seen his stats.
Andujar would have been smart enough not to sign a minor league deal with the Pirates.
The A’s have some decent young hitters but hopefully they give him a chance and don’t jerk him around like the Pirates did.
The A’s had first chance but there could have been other teams that would have put him on the ML roster.
I am just happy that the Pirates have plenty of other 320 hitters to take his place.
Dream, again, I get that all the money adds up into the bottom line, but their methods will this guy lack logic given the hole in right field and their need of a power bat. Nothing more
He wouldn’t fit on most teams that were contenders this year—that’s half of MLB, really— but if even just a stopgap or place holder, it would’ve made sense to bring him back
It’s like investing time to make the girl who thinks she’s ugly believe she’s pretty hot, and then watching her go off to date one of your friends
They didn’t think he was good. No reason for them to bring him back. Will see if they are right.
That may be true although Shelton said that Andujar was a good hitter and an rbi machine at the end of the year when he was hitting 320.
Cherington gave precedence to Davis and McCutcheon and Joe which was his prerogative.My guess is that Shelton has only minor input regarding playing time and even the batting order.
Andujar has short contract control and is not a great fielder anywhere.
If he is given a chance in Oakland it behooves him to hit although 28 is still somewhat young.
According to fans Shelton is a idiot.
According to many he is a bad manager including some who see him either way depending on the weather.
I have come to the conclusion that at least some of his most doofus lineup and relief pitcher ideas may very well be generated by computer by the front office and your dream GM.
I did give Shelton credit here for having a winning record over 60 games with just two starting pitchers.Not many managers could have done that.
Maybe his GM will actually get him a few more starting pitchers this year to stem the inevitable loss due to injuries.
Not at all shocked. At this point, Andujar is a textbook A’s pick up- but hey, they could do their old thing and turn him around a little bit…
Thank god that ship sailed out of Pittsburgh. It had Yoshi written all over it and fans was eating it up like skittles. I feel Triolo or even Henry Davis can man 1B
Agree 100% with Triolo and Davis at 1B, especially after Triolo hit so well down the stretch. Good glove. You’d think he could make the transition
Don’t understand their methods with Davis. I guess they gave up on him getting any reps as a back up catcher and you hear nothing about 1st
Guess we’ll see if your comment on Andujar is right. Wasn’t “eating it up like skittles” and no, I don’t think he was starting material at this stage but I think he’d provide more power than Yoshi
Reports say they want Davis in RF because of his arm. But he can’t field out there and his UZR is really bad. I believe Nelson Cruz has a better career UZR than what Davis did this past season in RF. I think 1B can be his calling and occasionally playing catcher (in emergency situations). The reason Davis isn’t looked at right now at catcher is because he only threw out 6% of base runners in the minors. That isn’t what you want to help your pitcher. Endy has thrown out double that % in the minors. The bigger bags makes it harder for all catchers. If Davis is thrown out 6% of base runners, that number could be 2% at the majors. I think Endy was around 10% thrown out of base runners at the majors. Room for improvement, but I can see Endy working it out and being a gg winner.
Davis’s right field defense was probably worse because he was learning the position in the bigs. I’d like to see him more as the backup catcher who gets some starts in right. Full spring training and off season should raise his competence and confidence in both positions.
If Davis is really that bad of a catcher then Cherington really tanked on his first first overall draft choice.They needed a catcher in the worst way and Davis could be a catcher in the worst way.
Endy is a far better defensive catcher than Henry. He was outstanding at working with the pitchers last year. The Pirates don’t need a catcher in the worst way when Endy is better than Henry.
You’re missing the point. You’re saying Davis is that bad of a catcher that he can’t spot start there to give Endy a break. So they’ll keep another catcher who is defensively sound and thereby keep a better all around player down on the farm instead. Given their drafting of Davis in the first place, I’m wondering about the logic. You mean they drafted him number one and knew all of this already?
Honestly, I don’t think he’s a bad catcher. He really made improvements this year at Altoona and Indy. He was a horrible at blocking in 2022, but I think he only allowed one passed ball this year? He had such a strong arm, and while his framing may not be great, it could probably get better with time, getting familiar with pitchers, etc. I think he can be am average defender, at least.
Endy is still significantly better, though. However that doesn’t mean that I think Davis is bad. I think Endy has Gold Glove potential. He looked outstanding behind the plate, and mhe worked with the pitchers the best probably since Cerevelli or Martin.
Not every top prospect amount to anything or stick at a position they are drafted for. If you think it’s onlyBC who “botches” on the top pick, you’re very biased individual. Look at Billy Beane for example. Top draft pick, cup of coffee in the majors. Not everyone lives up to the hype.
MLB-You missed my point.Davis was drafted before they got Endy and being the first draft choice it seems to me that they should have made sure that he could catch as they needed one very badly at that point.
Maybe he can catch but I would think that after three years they should know whether he can or not.
MLB- I agree with you about Endy.His hitting prowess in 2022 was not guaranteed as a ML rookie learning to catch ML pitchers.
Fan-I started off with the conditional word “if”.Davis could turn out to be a good catcher.And,yes,plenty of first round draft choices do not make good ML players.
But Davis was the first choice of the entire draft.
Scenes looks like a winner.Cole certainly was and is a bona fide Hall of Famer.Taillon further down the list became a good ML pitcher albeit one with an injury history.
Davis could turn out to be a good hitter and right fielder.The Pirates need to tell him where he is playing.
But if he tanks as a ML player that is a big black mark on Cherington’s resume whether you admit it or not.
Fan- Do you think that Davis cannot play right field because the Pirates do what they do and think anyone can play anywhere on a minutes notice?
Harper did not run on Davis last year because he knew that he had a very fine arm.He just needs to be taught to play there if they are not going to have him catch.
His arm is wasted at first base.
I think that they may be planning on having Triolo play first base because he hit well at the end of the year.We will see in Spring training.
My guess is that any power is short lived but his fielding ability is very good and he seems to pick up well on any position that he plays.
Bottom line, as an organization, the pirates believe he’s a replacement level player, that’s going to be demand too much money. He had one good year 4 or 5 years ago. 5 of 9 starters currently are on pre arbitration salaries. It makes no sense to keep him, pay him more than most of the current starters, to be a backup outfielder and a platoon first baseman. I am grumpy by nature, and that’s how I see it. Some fans on here and pirate announcers seem to believe he’s a great player that’s been treated poorly. Maybe he is better than I see him, but I agree with letting him go.
Obligatory trade him and Clint Frazier for Mike Trout comment.
He was currently the best option the Pirates have at 1st base.
C- I think that him and Rivas would at least have been acceptable and they could have spent their money on starting pitching.
A bit of a head scratcher by the A’s. Andujar seems redundant to Aledmys Díaz. And Andujar is out of options
The definition of a AAAA/replacement level player. Didnt see that coming after 2018.