Though he has great potential, Clint Fraizer simply just doesn’t fit in the Yankees current or future plans, so, he must be traded as soon as possible.
Thursday the Yankees again had to place left fielder Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list. With a PCL Strain, there’s a good chance Stanton won’t return until August at the earliest.
It seemed like a foregone conclusion Clint Fraizer would be the player New York called up to replace him. That wasn’t the case however as the Yankees opted to recall Mike Tauchman instead.
Fraizer hit .283 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI’s in 53 big league games this season. However after trading for Edwin Encarnación and Stanton and Aaron Judge returning to the lineup a few days after the trade the Yankees chose to send Fraizer back down to Scranton.
With Stanton again injured it seemed Fraizer would be back but by calling up Tauchman, the Yankees have made it clear they have little trust in the 24-year-old.
As well as Fraizer produced at the plate, he was nearly as big of a liability on defense. He missed several routine fly balls and at times looked simply lost in the outfield. In addition, he did not handle his defensive woes well ignoring the media and forcing teammates to answer questions about him instead.
The Yankees aren’t happy with Fraizer and his antics. Thus, it’s time to move on. Brian Cashman must include Fraizer in trade talks for a starting pitcher. Any team would be lucky to have his offense, but the Yankees are the rare case of a club that simply doesn’t need it.
With Stanton and Hicks signed long term, Brett Gardner not going anywhere in 2019 and Judge the face of the franchise there’s no room in the Yankees starting outfield.
The Yankees have a full-time DH for 2019 in Encarnación, and the future will likely plug in Stanton and Sanchez there.
With no playing time opening up any time soon the Yankees have to let Fraizer go and put him in a situation to play every day while also bringing themselves back a quality arm.