After Miguel Andujar’s latest demotion to the minors, the left fielder wants a different kind of change of scenery.
Andujar requested a trade from the Yankees on Friday night after he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a source confirmed to The Post’s Joel Sherman on Saturday. The request is not new, as Andujar has been asking to be dealt since the end of last year.
The 27-year-old Andujar had been called up for his latest big league stint on May 23, after Josh Donaldson went on the COVID-19 injured list. He remained on the roster when Donaldson returned on Friday, but once the decision was made to activate Giancarlo Stanton off the IL on Saturday, Andujar got the news he was the odd man out again.
Manager Aaron Boone declined to provide details about his conversation with Andujar, but described it as a “tough one.”
“That’s a difficult option,” Boone said. “Understanding he’s a big part of what we’ve done here and certainly wants to be here. … Last night was really difficult. He had been playing regularly for us. He’s been part of us winning ballgames.”
Andujar had appeared to be a trade candidate at the end of spring training, when it was clear he was not going to make the team and the Yankees needed to clear 40-man roster spots. Instead, he started the season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In 12 games with the Yankees this season, Andujar is batting .268 with a .596 OPS. The natural third baseman has made some strides in left field, where he started in nine of the team’s last 10 games before Saturday.
“There’s been other times … when it’s been needed that he’s gone down there [Triple-A] to work through some things,” Boone said. “Right now I know he’s contributing, he knows that and we know that. Just a tough numbers game obviously.”
Fellow left fielders Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks have struggled mightily at the plate, but the Yankees have more dollars (and in Hicks’ case, years) committed to them and neither has minor league options remaining.
The addition of Matt Carpenter as a veteran, productive and lefty bat off the bench also helped squeeze Andujar off the roster.
After being the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year in 2018, Andujar’s Yankees tenure has been rocky. He was limited to 12 games in 2019 before undergoing shoulder surgery for a torn labrum. In 78 games since then, he is batting .253 with a 79 OPS-plus (21 percent below league average).
Kody Clemens, with his dad Roger in attendance, started in left field for the Tigers and went 0-for-3. … The series finale on Sunday will begin at 11:35 a.m. as the weekly game on Peacock.