Today’s Season In Review we take a final look back on a rental player that hit well for the Athletics when he was healthy enough to take the field. Former top prospect Miguel Andujar saw his time with
the A’s come to an end after a year and a half but the organization was able to bring back a pitching prospect in a mid-season trade thanks to Andujar. We could be looking back and thanking him for that arm down the road.
How Was He Acquired?
After seeing his time in New York come to an unceremonious end, Andujar found himself claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates. After spending just a touch over a year with their org, Andujar was again DFA’d, only this time being claimed by our A’s. The right-handed hitter would end up signing a one-year, $1.7 million contract for the 2024 season, a nice buy-low gamble for the cash-strapped A’s.
His first year in the Green & Gold was a mixed bag as a missed the start of the season with a torn meniscus, but in the 75 games he did make it into he looked better at the plate than he had in years, acting as a strong right-handed bat in the lineup while lining up mostly as a left fielder. That was enough to convince the A’s to bring him back for another season, coming to terms on a $3 million contract for 2025.
What Were The Expectations?
When the A’s brought Andujar back for his second season the plan was to again deploy him in a left-right platoon in left field, with occasional starts at DH or first base. Andujar hadn’t shown much power in recent years but he was still able to make solid contact, especially against left-handed pitching. The former standout was also “only” just 30 years old so it wasn’t impossible that he could have a mid-career renaissance. Just very unlikely.
He hadn’t played third base in years so he wasn’t expected to be anything more than an emergency option at the hot corner Splitting time in left field was more or less the only way to sneak his bat into the starting nine against a left-handed starter. He wasn’t going to win any Gold Gloves but if he could be league-average with the leather while mashing against lefty pitching he could have a prominent role for this squad.
And it almost goes without saying, but as a cheap right-handed option on the market there would very likely be some market for his services at the trade deadline if the A’s were out of the playoff hunt. With a roster full of young, controllable players Andujar was one of the few obvious trade chips coming into the season.
2025 Results
Andujar made it through Spring Training healthy and hit well, earning him the starting left fielder assignment for Opening Day. That was just the start of a strong opening to his season as Andujar was one of the Athletics’ most consistent hitters across the first two months of the season. The power was mostly absent from his bat but he was still hitting the ball and getting on-base at a decent enough clip. By June 1st the righty was slashing a terrific .296/.328/.402 with three home runs, and was predictably doing even better against left-handed pitching. And besides what he was doing with the bat, Andujar was asked to return to his former position of third base on a part-time basis with options at the hot corner dwindling or not performing up to standard. He held his own at the hot corner, making just 1 error in 32 games as a third baseman.
Then the injury bug, which has dogged and derailed Andujar’s promising career, reared its ugly head once again. The righty suffered the dreaded strained oblique on June 1st, an injury that put his solid campaign on hold and likely cost him millions of dollars. That injury would end up shelving Andujar for just over a month, severely reducing his trade value to the out-of-contention A’s.
Andujar came back strong for his final month with the A’s, going 15-for-49 and hitting three additional home runs, showing off a bit of power in his final few games in the Green & Gold. The hope was to showcase that he was healthy and over his oblique issue and he did just that in 14 July games leading up to the trade deadline.
July 31st came and while it went down to the wire the A’s did find a suitor for Andujar’s services. The A’s and Cincinnati Reds line up on a minor trade involving his services, shipping the right-handed hitter to the Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Kenya Huggins.
Now in a playoff hunt Andujar stepped his game up and was one of the Reds’ best hitters down the final stretch, helping Cincy make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They would ultimately get bounced in the first round by the eventual-champion Dodgers but Andujar did his job getting them there. The Reds made the playoffs, Andujar got to experience a postseason run, and the A’s got an interesting pitching prospect that ranks as a top-25 arm in the system. Win-win-win all around. Andujar ultimately finished the season with a .318/.352/.470 with 10 home runs while playing mostly left field and some third base.
2026 Outlook
After the season came to a close Andujar finally hit the free agent market for the first time in his career, where he remains to this day. Now set to play the upcoming season at age-31, Andujar for the first time will get the chance to pick his own destination and lay his own path. He demonstrated that he’s still capable with the bat and he should be able to land a decent major league contract before pitchers and catchers start reporting in a couple months. It’s a great comeback for a player who was nearly completely written off by the league but rediscovered his magic with the A’s.
