Yankees trade for Frazier a replay of the David Justice deal in 2000

In 2000, at about the same point as this season. The Yankees offense was sputtering. Magistrating a deal with the Indians, Brian Cashman helped to propel the team to another World Series appearance. He’s probably done it again.

The Yankees are a bit different than the team Brian Cashman was guiding seventeen years ago. That team had won two consecutive Championships and was on the hunt for a third. Today, he leads a team that is looking for its first title in nine years. Still, he operates the same way.

Still, he operates the same way as he did then. He dabbles with Babe Ruth as he did back then with Sammy Sosa and now with Giancarlo Stanton in trade talks that go nowhere. But then, he strikes like a cobra when he senses the opportunity to acquire a professional ball player. Accent the word professional.

In 2000, it was the deal Cashman made for David Justice that pushed the Yankees over the wall and landing upright. Acquired in exchange for RHP Jake Westbrook, RHP Zach Day, and OF Ricky Ledee, River Avenue Blues supplies the numbers Justice gave back:

As for Justice, he was everything the Yanks could have hoped for and then some. In the first four weeks after the deal, he hit .347-.449-.653 with six homers, and his final line with the Yanks in 2000 was .305-.391-.585 with 20 bombs. All told, Justice was a .286-.377-.584 hitter that season, clubbing a career high 41 homers.His hot hitting carried into the playoffs, when he hit a solo homer off Kevin Appier in Game Five of the ALDS, pushing the Yanks further out ahead of the A’s and eventually sending them home. Justice completely torched the Mariners in the ALCS, picking up eight RBI in the six games. His three run homer off Arthur Rhodes in the 7th inning of Game Six turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead, and the Yanks would eventually hold on for a trip to their third consecutive World Series. His efforts won him ALCS MVP honors, and a few weeks later the Yankees were World Champions.

Todd Frazier is not the pure hitter Justice was, and it’s not likely he’s going to put up those kinds of numbers. But he brings the same aroma into the clubhouse at a time when the team needed a pick-me-up.

Aaron Judge cannot carry this team on his back for an entire season. But they can carry each other on their back. And with Gary Sanchez and Matt Holliday struggling to find their way, the Yankees needed another home run threat in their lineup. Frazier, despite his batting average in the low .200’s, gives them that.

Eyes wide open

Frazier reportedly was wide-eyed walking into the Yankees clubhouse. And it wasn’t just because he was donning the Pinstripes for the first time last night as the local boy and Little League World Series hero from nearby Toms River, New Jersey.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Should Yankees toss short-term extension at Harrison Bader before 2023?
• Yankees chose worst possible player to ring in New Year on 2023 team calendar
• Yankees State of the Farm System Review: Josh Breaux
• Yankees make upside play, sign former Rangers top prospect outfielder
• MLB insider claims favorite emerging in Bryan Reynolds rumors (not Yankees)

Instead, he was taken back by the number of 22 and 23-year-old kids in the clubhouse and the energy they emitted. That kind of stuff is catchy for a player who has been around the block a few times, mostly playing for teams who play out the string from day one.

Almost fittingly, though, his debut at home with the Yankees began auspiciously in his first at-bat when he managed to hit into a triple-play with the bases loaded (watch video). It wasn’t Frazier’s fault, though. His only mistake was he hit the ball hard, causing Didi Gregorius to get caught in the headlights and eventually tagged out in a rundown for the third out.

The acquisition of Frazier also helps Joe Girardi in the management of his infield, allowing Chase Headley and his reawakening bat to move over as the regular first baseman, a position the Yankees have been tweaking and re-tweaking all season.

Yankees bamboozle the Red Sox

The irony of it is, though, that Todd Frazier was destined to be traded to the Boston Red Sox who, at the time were huddling and getting ready to release Pablo Sandoval, eating the millions still owed to him.

Brian Cashman, who if there is such a title, deserves to be General Manager of the Decade, said, “Oh no, he’s mine,” or something like that and all of a sudden the Red Sox are left out in the cold having been efficiently by Cashman.

Next: What happens when Todd messes with number 21

Todd Frazier looks good wearing the Pinstripes, and the Yankees look better with him in the lineup. David Justice or not with the bat, Frazier provides the same professionalism and leadership to a team that needed a jump-start in the final two months of the season.