2018 Free Agency: Todd Frazier – Yay or Nay

The 2017 season is still going on for a select few teams, the Dodgers and the Astros, but unfortunately the Yankees and their focuses have shifted to off the field. The 2017 season for the New York Yankees is over and all eyes have now moved to the 2018 season and the long, dark and lonely offseason that comes in between. The Yankees have a select few that are hitting free agency this winter so over the next couple of days I wanted to not only interject what I think the Yankees should do with these select players but also I will go over what I think the Yankees will do, and they won’t always be one in the same. We will start with the Yankees third baseman that was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a pre-July 31^st trade deadline deal, Todd Frazier. Should the Yankees bring back The Toddfather for 2018 and do I think the Yankees will? Keep reading. 

I have been on record for about a month now of saying that I think the Yankees should bring back Frazier in 2018. In my opinion you cannot put a price on defense, clubhouse chemistry and you cannot quantify with a number the fact that Frazier actually wants to be in New York. We all grew up watching the hired mercenaries that seemingly didn’t care where they played as long as their paychecks didn’t bounce and it has been refreshing to see a player who actually wants to play in the Bronx. On top of that if you add to the fact that Frazier can play both third base and first base, both presumably a need for the Yankees as Frazier bats right-handed and Greg Bird is left-handed at first, and you have the recipe for one of those deals that just make too much sense to pass up. 

Like anything else this will come down to money and I think it will be the money that will keep the Yankees from bringing back Frazier. Frazier is hitting free agency for the first time in his career and will likely want to cash in more a maximum amount of years and dollars for his own security. Frazier is not to the point in his career where he is likely to give a hometown discount to the Yankees, or any teams, and who could blame him? Frazier has been on a team-friendly deal that the Chicago White Sox gave him and has done his time, now it’s his time to get paid and rewarded for his efforts as he should be.  

The Yankees would likely only want or “need” Frazier on a one-year deal with Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres knocking on the door to Yankee Stadium and I can’t fathom a scenario where Frazier is willing to sign that deal. Maybe, just maybe, the Yankees could offer him some DH time when one or both of the team’s young third baseman are ready and the team can convince Frazier to sign a three-or-four-year deal but even then, I can’t see the Yankees doing it as we stand here on October, 25. If the Yankees were able to trade Chase Headley sometime early on in this winter then my mind could and would change immediately but until then I just can’t see the Yankees splurging for Frazier. 

Frazier makes sense from a fan’s perspective, but he doesn’t make sense from a fiscal standpoint and at the end of the day Major League Baseball is a business, especially to men like Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner. I say yay on Frazier but the Yankees will likely say nay when it comes down to it this winter. Todd, we wish you well and thank you for your contributions here in the Bronx this season. Thank you.