The Reds have acquired utility player Miguel Andujar from the Athletics in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Kenya Huggins, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC2. Andujar is a free agent after the season, and was seen as a very likely candidate to be moved by the rebuilding A’s.
After a runner-up finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and then a few uninspiring years with the Yankees, Andujar has rebuilt his value as a regular contributor since leaving New York. He has hit .285/.320/.412 over 640 plate appearances with the Pirates and Athletics since Opening Day 2023, good for a 105 wRC+.
As per the norm for a right-handed batter, Andujar has performed far better against left-handed pitching than he has against righties. Cincinnati will probably deploy Andujar as a platoon bat with lefty-swingers Gavin Lux or Jake Fraley in the corner outfield slots, and Andujar will likely get some time at third base as a better-hitting alternative to Ke’Bryan Hayes. Another of the Reds’ deadline pickups, Hayes is an elite defender who struggles mightily at the plate, so Andujar figures to get some late-game pinch-hitting opportunities as well.
Andujar is earning $3MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility, so the Reds will only owe him a little under $1MM for the remainder of the 2025 campaign. That’s a bargain price for an above-average bat who has upside as a lefty-masher, and it’s a particularly smooth fit since the Reds are working within a limited budget.
Cincinnati emerges from deadline day with an estimated payroll of just under $119.9MM (hat tip to RosterResource). This stands as the Reds’ highest payroll since the 2021 season, and the acquisitions of Hayes, Andujar, and Zack Littell indicate that the team is making a strong push towards its first postseason appearance since 2020. The Reds are 57-52 entering tonight’s action, and sit three games behind the Padres for the final NL wild card spot.
Huggins was a fourth-round pick for Cincinnati in the 2022 draft, and a Tommy John surgery shelved him for big chunks of the 2023-24 seasons. As a result, Huggins has only 107 pro innings to his name, with 63 1/3 of those frames coming this year with A-level Daytona. Huggins has a 3.69 ERA in his return to action this year, looking pretty sharp even with a diminished strikeout rate that could be a by-product of his long layoff. MLB Pipeline slots Huggins in as the 27th-best prospect in the Athletics’ farm system, noting that he has exhibited better command post-surgery.
