WEST SACRAMENTO -- Mason Miller and Miguel Andujar are two players whose names have floated around over the past few weeks as potential trade targets for playoff-contending clubs.
On the eve of Thursday’s 3 p.m. PT Trade Deadline, both Athletics players stood out for different reasons in Wednesday night’s 5-4 win over the Mariners at Sutter Health Park.
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Andujar showed off the qualities that make him an attractive piece for teams in search of a right-handed bat. At the plate, the veteran third baseman crushed a pair of solo home runs off Seattle starter Bryan Woo, marking his first career multi-homer game. He also flashed his leather at the hot corner, making a fantastic diving stop on a ground ball by Mitch Garver to take away a hit for the second out of the seventh.
“For Miggy, tonight was the best I’ve seen him swing the bat,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s a professional hitter. He’s a guy we missed when he was out of the lineup.”
A strained right oblique caused Andujar to miss 33 games between June 2 and July 8. Before and after that stint on the injured list, the 30-year-old has performed as one of the A’s more consistent hitters, now batting .298 on the year with a .765 OPS.
Andujar’s track record as a hitter is solid dating back to his rookie season with the Yankees in 2018, when he finished runner-up to Shohei Ohtani in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The defensive aspect of Andujar’s game is what has been a pleasant surprise.
Struggles at third base during his time in New York led to Andujar moving off the position completely after the 2021 season. With the A’s dealing with a roster crunch this season in the wake of Nick Kurtz’s callup to the Majors in April, however, Kotsay asked Andujar to take up third again as a means of keeping his bat in the lineup.
Going four years between third-base appearances in the Majors, Andujar worked hard at the position with infield coach Eric Martins to turn into a reliable defender who can even make the occasional spectacular play, like Wednesday’s seventh-inning snag.
“From where we started with him and people telling me I was crazy for putting him at third base,” Kotsay said. “The progress he’s made and the plays he made tonight were game-changing. Miggy loves the game of baseball. That’s what I love about Miggy. He wants to play every single day. He wants to be on the field every pitch. He just has a joy about him that is really cool to be around. It’s fun to watch when he does what he did tonight.”
Andujar may not be the most high-profile name on the market, but his ability to play the corner outfield spots in addition to third base and massive success against lefties -- he entered Wednesday batting .422 (19-for-45) with a 1.036 OPS against left-handed pitchers -- can certainly be of use for a contender. He is a free agent after this season, and the A’s already have a surplus of young infielders vying for playing time as it is, including Darell Hernaiz, who also homered off Woo on Wednesday and is expected to fill for Jacob Wilson going forward while the rookie deals with a fractured left forearm.
Whether Andujar stays or goes elsewhere before Thursday is out of his control. The only thing he said he felt after Wednesday’s career-best performance was gratitude. After spending the majority of the 2023 season in the Minors with the Pirates organization, Andujar was claimed off waivers by the A’s before the 2024 campaign and has since revitalized his career.
“I can’t control [what happens],” Andujar said. “At the end of the day, I’m happy for the opportunity that the Athletics are giving me right now. I don’t know. Let’s see what happens.”
But the biggest story of the night might have been the guy who didn’t play.
Holding a two-run lead after seven innings, Kotsay opted for rookie right-hander Jack Perkins to close out the game rather than Miller, who never so much as warmed up despite being fresh.
It’s no secret Miller, who holds 20 saves on the year and has not allowed a run over his last 11 outings, has been the subject of trade rumors, with multiple reports linking him to the Padres on Wednesday night. Before fielding questions during his postgame press conference, Kotsay, unprompted, addressed why Miller was not used.
“Let’s get the elephant out of the room,” Kotsay said. “Mason was unavailable tonight. That’s all I can say.”
Kotsay added that the decision was not injury-related