Yankees in line to extend service time window on Miguel Andujar

Miguel Andujar was on track to be the Opening Day third baseman for the New York Yankees early this spring, but he has now been demoted to Triple-A.

Miguel Andujar was making a strong case to be the Opening Day third baseman for the New York Yankees, with four home runs and a .421 batting average over his first seven Grapefruit League games. But a dip in performance, and building log jam for playing time, led to the organization’s 2017 Minor League Player of the Year being demoted to Triple-A on Sunday.

Since that fast start to spring training, Andujar is just 3-for-19 at the plate. New York’s acquisition of Brandon Drury from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a February trade, and the more recent signing of Neil Walker, also gives new manager Aaron Boone a couple veteran options at the hot corner.

Andujar made his major league debut last year, with four hits in seven at-bats. He split the majority of the season between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, with a slash-line of .315/.352/.498 with 16 home runs, 82 RBI and 36 doubles over 125 combined games (522 plate appearances).

Andujar just turned 23 (March 2), and over the last two years he has emerged as one of the top prospects in the Yankees’ minor league system. He also only has 234 at-bats above Double-A in his career, and has some development left to do defensively.

Drury’s name can now be all but officially be etched in Boone’s Opening Day lineup at third base. But he is also very versatile, with most of his time last season coming at second base (114 games). So if Andujar starts the season torturing Triple-A pitching, Drury could move positions to make room.

Another huge thing for the Yankees demoting Andujar, beyond any further development he has to do, is service time. It’s been done before with highly-touted young players, to keep them from getting a full accrued year. Three years of service time brings arbitration eligibility, barring “Super-Two” status, with free agency after six years of service time. The cut-off for Super-Two status this past offseason was two years and 123 days of service time.

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Trading for Drury and signing Walker will help the 2018 Yankees, but those moves may have more impact in the future. Andujar does not have to be rushed to the big leagues, and if he stays on his current track he’ll become a serious bargain through his late 20s under team control.