Cincinnati Reds to acquire Miguel Andujar from A’s

Too little, too late?

If you are a baseball junkie and figured out which time zone the A’s are actually calling home, you might have noticed that Miguel Andujar socked a pair of homers in his most recent game in their uniform.

As it turns out, that’ll be the last time he dons an A’s uniform for the 2025 season. Right before Thursday’s trade deadline, he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds, according to multiple sources including Ari Alexander of KPRC Houston.

Andujar, a former top prospect with the New York Yankees, is now headed to his fourth franchise since the start of the 2022 season. Never considered a strong defender when he was a 3B only, he’s now been bouncing around the infield and outfield corners while being used as a DH, and he’s a bat that has specialized (of late) in mashing LHP (in a terribly small sample size).

Does he really hit the ball hard? No.

Does he play defense at all, anywhere, despite Nick Krall putting emphasis on defensive importance for the Ke’Bryan Hayes acquisition yesterday? No.

Has been the beneficiary of a lot of BABIP luck lately? Yeah.

Is he expensive? NOPE!

Andujar is owed just the remaineder of his $3 million salary for 2025, and he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. In essence, the Reds just chose to upgrade the 26th man on their roster from Connor Joe to Miguel Andujar, and that’s what they felt was the most important thing to do with their remaining time before the deadline.

Per reports, minor league RHP Kenya Huggins - who ranked 22nd on MLB Pipeline’s list of the Reds Top 30 prospects - is headed to the A’s as the return.

Every Reds trade deadline, it would seem, needs an Asdrubal Cabrera or Amed Rosario. They’ve found their 2025 version.