CLINT FRAZIER: FUTURE TRADE CHIP?

Someone had to get cut, right? The Yankees have to make room for Edwin Encarnacion somehow, and fast. We will see him in a Yankee uniform today, but we won't be seeing Clint Frazier. The real question is....was this the last time we see Frazier in a Yankee uniform?

It's a legitimate question. The Yankees had other options they could've made. They could've kept Frazier on the roster and sent Mike Tauchman down instead.....but they didn't. The Yankees sent the power bat with lackluster defense back down to Triple-A and kept the weaker bat but stronger glove. Adding Encarnacion creates a power lineup that we haven't seen in a long time, maybe not since Murderer's Row. If that is the strategy why would the Yankees send Frazier down instead?

Sure, Tauchman's likely on borrowed time himself since Giancarlo Stanton is supposed to come back on Tuesday. Someone else is gonna have to be sent down and he seems like a logical choice. So what's one more day? Big deal. Actually, it might be.

I'm just playing strategy here but while one extra day doesn't mean anything the symbolism behind it might. The Yankees just cut a guy with a .285 BA, 11 home runs and 34 RBIs because his poor defense just may offset how much of the value he has added with his bat. On any other team, you give the 24-year old kid more time to grow. The Yankees have a set outfield with players locked up long term. This may be the one team he just doesn't fit on.....maybe.

I don't know. I could be very wrong here but Aaron Judge isn't going anywhere anytime soon and neither is Aaron Hicks, even with his injury history. This team has outfield depth and a lot of it right now, but this team doesn't have the pitching help it desperately needs. Maybe the Yankees use their surplus in outfielders to address their shortage in pitching. Maybe Frazier is the answer for that.

If I were the Yankees and I could trade Frazier for a controllable starting pitcher like Marcus Stroman or Matthew Boyd then I would think long and hard about it. Those guys may make sense but trading a guy like Frazier for a short-term rental like Madison Bumgarner do not.

I may be reading more into this then I should BUT I can't overlook the fact that they cut Frazier and kept Tauchman. The Yankees aren't lacking in outfield defense at all so that's not a legitimate reason to cut him first. I guess we will wait and see if this is the start of the end for Frazier in a Yankee uniform. If it is, it won't feel good to watch him start for someone else.....but that's baseball for ya.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj