Should Chicago White Sox Have Seen Red Flags With Todd Frazier?
The Chicago White Sox have needed an upgrade at third base since letting Joe Crede go in free agency after the 2008 season. Was the acquisition of Todd Frazier a desperate move to get an established third baseman? There were some red flags the White Sox should have seen.
The blockbuster trade the Chicago White Sox made with the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers to acquire Todd Frazier gave a lot of White Sox fans hope for them to have their first winning season since Robin Ventura arrived in 2012.
When the White Sox sent prospects Trayce Thompson, Micah Johnson and Frankie Montas to the Dodgers and L.A. sent three players to Cincinnati to complete the three-way deal, it indicated the White Sox viewed the team as a contender this season.
The trade for Frazier was the White Sox’s second big one of the 2015-16 offseason. They earlier acquired Brett Lawrie from Oakland. Frazier was acquired with two seasons left before he is arbitration eligible after next season.
Frazier’s .252 career average is misleading. He hit .284 in the first half last year, .273 in 2012 and 2014. Those performances inflated his averages. His average has tailed off in the second half throughout his career. Frazier is a career .260 hitter with 88 home runs and 239 RBI in the first half during his career. In the second half, Frazier hits .240 with 47 home runs and 146 RBI. His stats decrease month by month.
Frazier was 14th in home runs,17th in RBI and 47th in batting average in the second half of last season. Frazier’s power stats are back up this season, but his batting average is hovering around the Mendoza line.
Frazier is first this season in home runs and sixth in RBI among third baseman. His power production has been as expected. His .216 batting average is last among qualified third baseman.
He has been hot over the last week. That’s up from .203 to start July. He hit .167 in June and is hitting .281 in July. The White Sox need greater consistency out of a player that was touted as one of the best at his position. Whether or not he is is debatable.
White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn expected a lot when they traded for FlavaFraz. Hahn said after the White Sox traded for Todd Frazier:
"“We view him as one of the finer all-around third basemen in the game. We are thrilled to be able to add him to the lineup."
The White Sox are falling perilously out of the pennant race. Their 32-inning scoreless streak and one run in 41 innings to start the second half was the primary contribution to an 0-4 start to the second half.
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After a middling season in 2015, Melky Cabrera has bounced back in 2016 to be the best hitter on the White Sox. Can Frazier do that next season? Can the White Sox wait that long?
It looks like the White Sox are going to fall short of the postseason for the eighth straight season. Their plan continues to be to plug holes every offseason. It continues to not work.
They are going to have to develop more positions players. Tim Anderson appears to be the first position player that the White Sox developed internally since Alexei Ramirez who came up in 2006. The list of failed position players is long. Players like Gordon Beckham and Dayan Viciedo were touted as cornerstones of the franchise who were going to be a part of the lineup for many years. both failed. Viciedo hasn’t been in the major since the White Sox released him in February 2015 and Beckham is on his third team in three years.
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The plug and play plan isn’t working. The White Sox need to start developing from within or they will continue being a .500 team for the foreseeable future.