Future NY Mets replacement for Starling Marte could be this former Yankees player

The New York Mets haven’t gotten much out of the designated hitter slot in their lineup. Jesse Winker got off to a solid start, but hit the IL with a grade two oblique strain. Plus, he was primarily used in a platoon with veteran Starling Marte, who isn’t off to a hot start, despite the Mets willing to stick with him for now. The Mets could look to replace Marte with a better right-handed hitting DH option, and one that could potentially be on the trade market this summer is former crosstown rival Miguel Andujar.

Andujar was once one of the New York Yankees’ most promising youngsters. In 2018, he finished the year batting .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs, and 129 wRC+. His 47 doubles tied Albert Pujols’ record for the most by a rookie post-integration. Despite poor defense at third base with -21 defensive runs saved, Andujar finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting behind LA Angels’ Shohei Ohtani.

But Andujar would lose most of the next handful of seasons due to injury. From 2019 through 2022, Andujar would only play 105 more games in a Yankees uniform. He would eventually see both Gio Urshela and Josh Donaldson take over third base. Andujar was eventually dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022, but didn’t do much for them in the 39 games he played.

The Athletics then picked up Andujar and would see the most playing time he’s had since his 2018 rookie year last season. In 319 trips to the plate, Andujar turned in a .285/.320/.377 triple-slash with a 103 wRC+. He only hit four home runs with a sub-.100 isolated slugging percentage, and drew walks in less than 5% of his plate appearances. However, he also only struck out 13.2% of the time. Andujar primarily played left field, but not particularly well. His defense was still poor despite changing positions, with -1 defensive run saved, and -7 outs above average in only 615.2 innings.

Miguel Andujar would be better Jesse Winker complement at DH than Starling Marte currently is.

But Andujar is off to an even better start to 2025, batting .316/.345/.444 through his first 142 plate appearances of the year. He’s struck out just 11.3% of the time but continues to have a sub-5% walk rate at 4.9%. Andujar is hitting for more power than last year, and already has three home runs and an ISO over .100 at .128.

Andujar has also demolished left-handed pitching with the Athletics. He is slashing .416/.458/.558 with a .442 wOBA, and 197 wRC+ in 83 plate appearances. It may be a small sample size of less than 100 trips to the dish, but it dwarfs what Marte has done against lefties this year. Marte doesn’t have horrible numbers against lefties, but his .222/.344/.370 triple-slash and 110 wRC+ in 32 plate appearances fall well under Andujar’s production.

Andujar has primarily been used in left field. However, he’s starting to see playing time at the hot corner again. He hasn’t taken the field as a third baseman since 2021, and hasn’t done so for at least 50 innings since his rookie year. He has still not been good in the field, with -3 DRS and OAA at third base, with zero DRS and -2 OAA in left. According to Statcast, he has the worst route running and the sixth worst jump on flyballs among all qualified outfielders this season.

However, his poor defense is a reason why he’d make a good Starling Marte replacement. While he may still occasionally see time in the field, the biggest flaw in Andujar’s game would essentially be a non-issue if most of his playing time was at designated hitter for the Mets. Andujar is only a rental, so the Mets likely wouldn’t have to break the bank either. A platoon between him and Jesse Winker, who consistently hits right-handed pitching well, would be a good pairing and give the Mets a way to utilize two players who have platoon splits with less than spectacular defense.