Before the Yankees received prized prospects Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield from the Indians for Andrew Miller and Gleyber Torres from the Cubs for Aroldis Chapman at the trade deadline, Gary Sanchez and Jorge Mateo were considered the club’s top prospects.
The arrival of the new players strengthened a minor league system that had gotten stronger in recent years.
What the new blood also did was overshadow Miguel Andujar, who is impressing scouts during the early part of the Arizona Fall League.
“He can swing the bat, plays the game hard and the right way,’’ a scout said of Andujar, a 21-year-old third baseman from the Dominican Republic who played for Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton this past season. “He has a chance to be a big league player.’’
In a very small sample size (five games going into Thursday night), the 6-foot, 175-pound Andujar — a righty hitter — was batting .375 (6-for-16) with a .974 OPS for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
That strong start followed a solid minor league season in which Andujar played 58 games for Tampa and 72 games for Trenton. He combined for a .273 average, 12 homers, 83 RBIs and a .332 on-base percentage.
At 21, Andujar was 3.3 years younger than the average Eastern League player, but wasn’t overwhelmed at Trenton, hitting .266 and driving in 42 runs in 72 games.
In five seasons in the Yankees’ organization, Andujar has gained the respect of teammates and coaches for a professional attitude.
It’s unlikely Andujar will supplant Chase Headley at third base during the 2017 season. But what were the odds, at this time a year ago, Sanchez would do that to Brian McCann this past season?
Sanchez played in 71 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this summer before being elevated to the big leagues and with his sizzling bat, turned McCann, a seven-time All-Star, into a bench player.
As for Torres, also on the Scorpions, the same scout said he was impressed with the shortstop’s tools, but detected a need to be more patient at the plate.
“[Torres] has a lot of talent, [is] a little out of control swing-wise and [with] plate discipline,’’ the scout said of the 19-year-old right-handed hitter. “I would say he is similar to a young Starlin Castro. The ball jumps off his bat. He has a little trouble identifying the breaking ball, but when he hits it he hits it very hard.’’
Talent evaluators who have seen Torres and Mateo believe Torres has surpassed Mateo in terms of being a better prospect. Before Torres was acquired, the Yankees played Mateo at short and second base for Tampa. During instructional league play, the 21-year-old Mateo appeared in center field. He isn’t playing in the AFL.
Tyler Wade, another shortstop prospect, whom the Yankees took in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, is getting time in center field for Scottsdale. He will turn 22 late next month.