New York Yankees: At this point, team is toying with Clint Frazier

After Giancarlo Stanton landed on the IL, the New York Yankees had room for Clint Frazier, but continue to refuse to give him the nod.

Back in 2016, the New York Yankees acquired a number of players through trades that were sold as moves for the future. One of those deals sent super reliever Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians for four players, including Clint Frazier.

At the time, according to Jayson Stark, “one exec who has seen a lot of Clint Frazier calls him an ‘all-star type 5 tool guy that can flat out play.’” Even Yankees GM Brian Cashman gushed about Frazier, saying, “The bat speed is already legendary. He’s got all the tools—he can run, he can hit, he can hit with power, he can play all three outfield positions… He’s a super-competitive guy.”

So, when Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton went down with a hamstring injury yesterday, the assumption was that Frazier would finally get the call.

Wrong! Instead, the team has opted to replace an outfielder with… a utility man in Thairo Estrada.

Is the relationship between Clint Frazier and the New York Yankees irreparable?

Last season, the relationship between Frazier and the Yankees took a beating after both sides handled multiple situations poorly. First, the team didn’t offer support for the youngster after a number of fielding blunders against the Boston Red Sox cost the organization a win.

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Then, upon being sent down to the minors, Frazier took the maximum amount of time given to report to the minors despite the team being located a little over 2 hours from Yankee Stadium. He later topped it off by taunting critics after making a defensive play with the Scranton Railriders.

His behavior would eventually cost him an MLB job for the rest of the season as the team began to look elsewhere in their system for outfield replacements.

Enough time has passed for the team to finally make amends, though. In fact, before the pandemic shut down the sport for close to 4-months, Frazier was slotted to replace Aaron Hicks, who was to miss half the season due to Tommy John surgery.

A late July start provided enough time for Hicks to return fully healthy, however, and Frazier remains in an alternate site.

Maybe the team will give Frazier a chance at some point but in the minds of many, the damage is done. It’s time for the team to bring the kid up or trade him. Either way, it’s not fair to keep a player down who definitely deserves a shot.