It was a long shot for Clint Frazier to make the Opening Day big league roster. A lot of things would have had to happen; injuries would have had to ravage the Yankees outfield and Frazier would have had to blow away his already sky high expectations.
The Yankees have a number of outfielders ahead of him on the depth chart due to their veteran status and salary in the cases of Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner, level of development in the case of Aaron Judge, and versatility in the case of Aaron Hicks. You can also argue that players like Mason Williams, Billy McKinney, and Rob Refsnyder will see time in the outfield for the Yankees before Frazier in 2017.
Clint is not far off, though, and he is expected to stick once he debuts. He is slated to be Scranton’s everyday left fielder after an impressive spring in which he hit .308 in 20 games. There will be a microscope on the 22-year old, but that comes with being the Yankees’ number two overall prospect.
Everything seems on track for Frazier, but some close to the team believe he is not destined to remain a New York Yankee.
Over the weekend, George King wrote an article that was pretty critical of Frazier, saying he needs to grow up before being called up.
Reassigned to the minor league complex before Friday’s 3-2 win over the Phillies at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Frazier needs to mature mentally, get back the flexibility in his upper body which he lost by lifting too many weights during the winter, stop being seduced by the home run, keep control of that mop of red hair after hitting .228 at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year in 25 games and develop a sense of understanding of where he is and for what team he plays.
King went on to write that Frazier was cocky for responding “I am an all-fields hitter” to the question of if he is a right-handed opposite-field hitter, which we saw this spring.
There is no doubt that Frazier is cocky, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Most great athletes are cocky to some degree. In fact, I’d imagine it is impossible to succeed in pro sports without having full confidence in your abilities. If King feels Frazier’s answer was cocky, then I’d love to hear what he thinks of a player like Bryce Harper or Jose Bautista.
There is some merit to what King wrote, however. Frazier does need to continue maturing before the Yankees will feel confident calling him up. Since being traded last summer, Frazier has made headlines by tweeting at Jen Selter for a date and promoting his signature long hair, which does not comply with the Yankees grooming rules.
“He really wanted to talk about himself as a baseball player instead of his hair all of the time,” Girardi said. “He took care of that, and I think that’s what it got to. I think the focus was on his play more than anything else after that. I thought he handled it pretty well. He is a young man who has a little style to him. We love the way he plays.”
Frazier took control and finally cut his hair to an acceptable length. He put the story to bed, which was exactly the right way to handle it.
What surprised me about King’s article was his reporting that one talent evaluator believes Frazier’s best value to the Yankees is part of a trade to the White Sox for Jose Quintana.
You remember the Quintana trade rumors, right? They are the T-1000 of trade rumors. You can run them over, freeze them with liquid nitrogen and blow them up, but they will just not die.
King’s article escalated when Peter Gammons tweeted that swapping Frazier and Quintana is “intriguing.”
Clint Frazier must grow up more before he can join the Yankees https://t.co/fSO6nRqFRP via @nypostsports. The Quintana deal idea intriguing
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) March 25, 2017
The Yankees obviously have rotation concerns and the addition of Jose Quintana would be welcomed. The Yankees also have a deep system of outfielders. The aforementioned 24-year old Judge looks to make an impact this season, and the 19-year old Blake Rutherford is high on many top-100 prospect lists.
There is also the other story that will not go away; Bryce Harper is a free agent in 2019 and the Yankees are the odds on favorite to land the superstar.
If Frazier does wind up being part of a Jose Quintana-like trade, that is not a bad thing. It may not be what some fans want, but you can’t argue the value a pitcher like Quintana would bring to the Yankees.
Should Frazier remain and succeed with the Yankees, he will be a fan favorite due to that personal style Joe Girardi mentioned.
