Aaron Boone On WFAN: Yankees Still Have High Hopes For Miguel Andujar
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Although the Yankees traded for a player this week who could block Miguel Andujar from the starting job at third base, new manager Aaron Boone says the organization still very much believes in the young infielder.
Talking to WFAN's "The Afternoon Drive With Carlin, Maggie and Bart" on Thursday, Boone said one of the first things he told Andujar after the Yankees acquired Brandon Drury from Arizona on Tuesday was, "This doesn't change anything as far as what we think of you, our belief in you.
"For me, just watching a lot of video coming in on him and obviously the reports, which are glowing across the board within our organization -- frankly within the landscape of baseball -- and now getting to put my eyes on him for myself and watching him, there's no doubt in my mind we've got a special player and a guy that's going to play in the big leagues for a long time," added Boone, who will appear on WFAN every Thursday during the baseball season at 5 p.m. "And the reality is there's still an opportunity in the short-term."
The Yankees made the move to add Drury after general manager Brian Cashman expressed reservations about starting two rookie infielders -- Andujar at third base and Gleyber Torres at second -- in a season when the Bronx Bombers are considered serious World Series contenders.
Although Drury is versatile enough to play several positions, he is believed to be the front-runner to win the third-base job. But officially, it's still an open competition.
Boone said he had been most excited to watch Andujar and Torres this spring and that they've both stood out so far.
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"There's no doubt in my mind both of these guys are going to be impact players for a long time," he said. "The question is, when does that begin? Is it at the start of the season? Is it somewhere down the line? That kind of remains to be seen."
To listen to the interview, in which Boone also discusses Aaron Judge's shoulder, the use of analytics, the clubhouse culture and more, click on the audio player above.