Yankees: 3 players who survived trade deadline but won’t be on 2022 roster

2. Clint Frazier

What did Clint Frazier’s recent tweets mean? He says it’s a whole lot of nothing (he responded to a tweet about that article and said it was “trash” even though we had hoped to hear his side of the story, like he requested!), but most fans who follow the Yankees closely definitely feel like something’s afoot here.

Frazier’s inauspicious start with the franchise, which was plagued with injuries and some character issues, seemingly went away after 2020. He had a very good season and was named the starting left fielder ahead of the 2021 campaign.

Then came time to deliver. Instead, Frazier’s Gold Glove-nominated defense disappeared, and so did his bat. We don’t need to go over the numbers. It was objectively bad and certainly played a role in the team’s embarrassingly slow start. It was no longer tenable.

On July 2, Frazier hit the IL after exiting a game and experiencing dizziness. At first, he was diagnosed with vertigo, then other medical opinions refuted that diagnosis. And he’s been out of commission ever since … until this week when he started conducting baseball activities. 

But what’s been the issue? Have doctors really not been able to figure out what’s going on with him? Maybe … it’s not exactly out of the question. But the scarce updates do leave us with skepticism.

And when he does return, what will his role be? He can’t play center field. Joey Gallo is now here. Giancarlo Stanton has begun playing some outfield. Brett Gardner is engraved on this roster until this season expires.

We’d be surprised if Frazier logged another at-bat in pinstripes again this year … which can only mean he’s gone come 2022.