Yankees: 3 Clint Frazier trades that could pave the way for Marcell Ozuna

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If the Yankees sign Marcell Ozuna, trading Clint Frazier feels like a must.

A surprising report dropped on Wednesday suggesting that the New York Yankees were among the teams interested in free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna. We’re not going to sit here and tell you we oppose it, but we are going to tell you that there are a lot of other things to consider if the Yankees are serious about this.

The first concern is DJ LeMahieu. Are the Yankees going to spend to keep him and pay for Ozuna? But we won’t get into that. DJ updates are chipping away at our mental health, so we need something a bit less triggering.

Not to say this wouldn’t upset fans, but the possibility of adding Ozuna now has us thinking about the Yankees trading Clint Frazier, since he currently occupies the starting left field job, which is where Ozuna would likely take over in the event a deal gets done.

Hey, it’s not the worst idea. Frazier carries a ton of value and could help the Yankees land a star pitcher, whether it’s a top-paid veteran or a controllable young gun. Plus, while we’re not sitting here advocating for the Yankees to make such a move, trading Frazier doesn’t exactly disrupt the balance of power or continuity of the Yankees’ roster. He only began contributing on a much more significant basis this past season.

So here are three potential trades general manager Brian Cashman could work out if this is the plan in waiting.

Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

3. Clint Frazier and prospects to Royals for Whit Merrifield and Josh Staumont

Yup, we’re still dreaming of a world in which the Yankees get Whit Merrifield.

OK, no starter here, but perhaps a fill-in scenario in the event LeMahieu leaves? Plus, we can potentially get a promising bullpen option out of it. That would solve two issues. Not bad! Regarding the situation in Kansas City, the Royals simply do not need Whit Merrifield or Josh Staumont unless they feel like playing spoiler with their AL Central buddies.

Merrifield deserves to be in a winning situation and, though Staumont showed promise in his second MLB season, the Royals can afford to part with a bullpen piece if they’re still far off from contention. Merrifield would be a tremendous Swiss Army knife player for the Yankees thanks to his experience playing all over the field with the exception of shortstop, catcher, and pitcher. As for Staumont, he’d give the Yankees another flamethrowing, strikeout-heavy reliever to help fortify the bridge to Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman.

Frazier, who has four years left of control left, should be the centerpiece of this deal. What else could interest the Royals? Perhaps throwing in Albert Abreu, Jonathan Loaisiga and top prospects Yoendrys Gomez and Kevin Alcantara. This five-for-two swap would play right into the Yankees’ hands for their current premier championship window while providing the Royals with controllable talent and decent bullpen relief in the interim.

Moving on…

Kyle Hendricks #28 of the Chicago Cubs (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

2. Clint Frazier and No. 5 prospect Luis Medina to Cubs for Kyle Hendricks

Kyle Hendricks is the prototypical No. 2 starter for the Yankees.

The Cubs are ready to sell the farm, and it’s time the Yankees get involved in the auction. They already traded Yu Darvish for a bunch of high schoolers and seemingly have other plans on deck with Kris Bryant and others. But what about Kyle Hendricks?

The right-hander is under contract through 2023 ($14 million per season) and has an option for 2024 ($16 million). If Chicago is tearing it all down, why keep Hendricks? He doesn’t fall in line with any potential championship window and they’re better suited to splurge on Javier Baez, make him the face of the franchise, and figure everything out from there.

For interested parties, though, it’s a relative bargain. That’s Liam Hendriks money!

Clearing Hendricks’ cash would help the organization save in the short term, which has been the clear intention since the offseason commenced. But in this day and age, $14 million for a pitcher of Hendricks’ caliber is actually somewhat of a steal, so this trade should get the Cubs a decent return unlike the Darvish one.

Send Frazier, No. 5 prospect Luis Medina and No. 19 prospect Roansy Contreras. Medina and Contreras are highly-regarded pitchers in the Yankees’ system and Frazier can fill the void in left field left by Kyle Schwarber.

As for the Yanks, Hendricks slots in right behind Gerrit Cole. World Series on.

Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) /

1. Clint Frazier and prospects to Reds for Luis Castillo

If Clint Frazier is going to be traded, the Yankees better go for it all.

The Reds are reportedly listening to trade offers for Luis Castillo, or at least that’s what we learned a few weeks ago. Well, the Yankees can help! And it starts with Clint Frazier, who can immediately help out, especially if Cincy is looking to unload Nick Castellanos’ contract.

As for the rest of this trade? The Yankees would have to cough up a bit. Castillo, who has a 3.62 ERA in 90 career starts across four seasons, won’t hit free agency until after 2023. And he’ll likely be under (largely) team-friendly prices until then.

Castillo, 28, is the exact kind of power right-hander you want behind Gerrit Cole. Though Hendricks arguably offers a better change of pace, Castillo truly brings another ace-like arm with his blazing fastball and devastating changeup. That’s the good news.

The bad news? This won’t be cheap. We’re looking at a Frazier-Clarke Schmidt-Oswald Peraza-Alexander Vizcaino kind of package if Jasson Dominguez remains untouchable (he probably will). Schmidt is the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect, Peraza is No. 4 and Vizcaino is No. 9. That gives the Reds some diversity with an outfielder, two pitchers and a shortstop. A lot of controllable talent there for a team that isn’t exactly a big market and needs to figure out a way to out-rebuild their division rivals in the NL Central.

This is the go-for-it-all deal and a chance to worry about rebuilding your top-10 prospects later. Some might call it a World Series move. And we need one of those badly right now.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 26: Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches against the Minnesota Twins on September 26, 2020 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

This Yankees-Reds trade package could bring Luis Castillo to New York

If Cincinnati Reds ace Luis Castillo is on the market, the New York Yankees should be inquiring, and maybe this trade package could bring him to the Bronx.

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