Yankees had no choice but to send down Clint Frazier

Following Sunday’s 10-1 rout over the Royals, the Yankees made the unpopular move to send Clint Frazier down back to Triple-A. Frazier deserves to be in the big leagues but because of the teams’ upcoming roster crunch, it just didn’t make sense keeping him around to sit the bench.

You could argue that the Yankees bullpen is fine with just seven relievers but now that Frazier is back at Triple-A it’s clear that the coaching staff feels more comfortable with an eighth arm in the pen. According to reports, Giovanny Gallegos will be called upon to take Frazier’s spot on the roster, but that shouldn’t last long.

The real reason the Yankees felt the need to add an extra guy to the pen is that Tommy Kahnle is set to return to the team at some point this week. Once he is ready to go he will be their eighth reliever and Gallegos will be sent back down. Kahnle will be a huge part of this bullpen if he comes back healthy and can provide the Yanks with another power arm to set up for Aroldis Chapman.

As much as Frazier would obviously love to stay in the big leagues and the Yankees would love to have him on the roster, he needs to be playing every day. The only place he can do that right now is with Scranton. Like we saw with top prospects Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar you don’t bring up players as highly touted as they are and Frazier just to glue them to the bench and only give them a couple of at-bats a week. That can halt the development of a player even though Frazier is someone who is more than ready to play at the big league level.

Unfortunately for Frazier, the Yankees don’t think they need a fifth outfielder right now. Most fans, including myself, would argue that he could be a guy they can start against lefties instead of Brett Gardner, but it seems they’d rather have Giancarlo Stanton out there instead. That way it leaves an opening at DH for someone like Gary Sanchez to get a half day off so he doesn’t have to catch a full game.

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When Frazier was called up it looked like he might get a shot to take some playing time away from the struggling Aaron Hicks, but over the past week, Hicks has caught fire at the plate hitting .462 in his last 15 at-bats.

Gardner continues to scuffle himself but he’s the longest-tenured Yankee and despite his poor start he’s still the best option on the roster to bat leadoff in my opinion.

Another victim of the roster crunch

If an injury to anyone in the outfield were to occur there’s no doubt Frazier would be the first guy called upon to step in as a replacement. However, moving forward it doesn’t seem like there will many opportunities for him to earn consistent playing time at the big league level.

It’s tough because Frazier has the talent to possibly become a better everyday option than the aging Gardner or even Hicks, but you know those two will continue to be in the lineup. Right now all Frazier can do is continue to rake down at Triple-A and really give the coaching staff something to think about as the season progresses.

It’s extremely rare that you see a team like the Yankees with too many good players and not enough roster spots, but that’s exactly what they have right now in their infield and outfield. There’s so much talent and depth throughout the organization that capable big leaguers like Frazier and Brandon Drury are stuck in the minors because there’s just nowhere to put them on the 25-man roster.

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It’s a good problem to have, and usually, these kinds of things end up working themselves out. However, if they don’t, eventually, a trade may have to be made. We’ll have to wait and see who will be dealt but if I’m Brian Cashman I’m holding onto Clint Frazier.

There’s still a big role for him to play on this Yankee team in the very near future and although it might not be this season his time is coming. Once it does the Yankees will be happy they held onto “Red Thunder.”

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