Yankees: Will Clint Frazier be traded before the offseason is over?

This time a year ago many would agree that Clint Frazier projected to be the Yankees starting left fielder for years to come. However, after spending the majority of the second half last season at Triple-A Scranton, it’s getting harder to see where Frazier fits into New York’s future plans.

The 2019 season was really a tale of two halves for Clint Frazier. After missing the majority of the 2018 campaign with concussion symptoms he failed to make the Yankees Opening Day roster out of Spring Training. Even though Aaron Hicks started the season on the IL the Yanks opted to have Mike Tauchman be their fourth outfielder instead because they wanted Frazier to get everyday at-bats with the Railriders.

However, his stint at Triple-A didn’t last very long due to the insane amount of injuries the big league club suffered during the month of April. Giancarlo Stanton injured his shoulder after just three games which led to Frazier being recalled on April 2nd. Then Aaron Judge went down with an oblique strain three weeks later so Frazier quickly became a regular in the Yankees starting lineup and really took advantage of his opportunities.

From April to early June, Frazier emerged as one of the Yankees most productive and clutch hitters and was a big reason why they were still able to thrive despite all the injuries. During that stretch in 191 at-bats, he hit .283 with 11 HR, 34 RBI, and a .513 SLG%. He was also one of the team leaders in BA with RISP and finished the season with a .362 clip.

However, throughout this time Frazier’s defense in the outfield continued to be a big issue and in an early June matchup against the Red Sox he hit rock bottom when he had a handful of brutal miscues in an 8-5 loss. Following the game, Frazier made matters worse when he refused to talk to the media which is a big no-no in the New York market.

Skipping out on his postgame obligations probably didn’t endear Frazier to the front office or his teammates. It also led to the media raising questions once again about his attitude and whether or not he was built to handle playing in New York.

In the games that followed the loss against Boston Frazier spent more time on the bench than in the starting lineup and when the Yankees acquired DH Edwin Encarnacion he was the odd man out sent back to Triple-A. Little did we know at the time that Frazier would spend the rest of the season there until rosters expanded in September.

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When he returned to the big leagues Frazier couldn’t pick up where he left off at the plate which probably had a lot to do with the lack of consistent at-bats. In 34 September at-bats, he hit .176 with 1 HR and 4 RBI and failed to make the Yankees postseason roster. It was a poor ending to a season that had started with so much promise.

Looking ahead to 2020 there’s a good chance Frazier will still be a Yankee when players start reporting to Tampa for Spring Training. Even though his name has been thrown around in trade rumors this offseason I don’t see the Yanks dealing him at least until the regular season rolls around.

The Yankees have made it clear that they’re not going to trade Frazier just to get rid of him. Last July there were rumors that the D’Backs wanted Frazier and pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt for Robbie Ray and Brian Cashman rejected the offer and rightfully so because the asking price was way too high. Frazier’s defense is a big issue but he’s proven he still has a bright future offensively and still has a lot of value so if the Yanks are ever going to trade him the return is going to have to be of equal value

Right now the Yankee roster is pretty much set and more than good enough to win a World Series next season. There’s no need to trade any assets away like Frazier or Miguel Andujar right now because as we saw last season you can never have too much depth.

That’s why the Yanks will likely hold onto Frazier and let him compete with Mike Tauchman for a spot in the outfield this spring. If everyone enters Opening Day healthy he might end up back at Scranton to start the season, which will stink for him, but that’s something that’s really out of his control.

That being said if I had to predict Frazier won’t make it through the entire 2020 season with the Yankees. Once we start to get deeper into the regular season it will become more clear what the team might need to add before the trade deadline. When that time comes Frazier’s name will once again emerge in trade talks and if a deal makes sense I don’t think the Yanks will hesitate to move on from him.