Can I yawn on someone’s face? The floors are moving up on prospects and ceilings are lowering. It feels like with the promotion of Alex Bregman the minor leagues lost a lot of high octane prospects. Moncada has a chance to be a 1st or 2nd round fantasy guy one day; Prospector Ralph has a fathead for Benintendi and I don’t mean a life-sized wall decal of Benintendi; Judge could hit 40 HRs and .210 and Manuel Margot, well, good but Padres. What I’m saying is the high minors are sorta depleted right now. I don’t see a huge rookie bat coming up this year. Next year might be an issue too depending on how well Brendan Rodgers progresses this year, but rookies are always going to surprise and, hence, their allure. That reminds me of a magazine that Cougs put into my bathroom that I’ve been subjected to reading when I forget my phone, it’s called Allure. The previous two sentences could’ve also been Pitbull lyrics, rhyming allure with Allure. Interesting iambic pentameter, Mr. Bull. So, all of this rambling preamble — preramble? — brings us to the gingie one, Clint Frazier. He was traded to the Yankees (with others) this past year for Andrew Miller. I love that deal for the Indians. On one hand, one of the best relievers in baseball. On the other hand, a lottery ticket. This gingie wasn’t one of those Powerball lottery tickets either. This lottery ticket looks to be one of those scratch-offs where you win $500 a year for ten years. Would you take $500/year for ten years? Sure, why not? Would you trade away a top five reliever for it? Unlikely, but I also might’ve mixed metaphors. Anyway, so what can we expect from Clint Frazier for 2017 fantasy baseball?
I’ve seen people projecting Frazier’s ETA for 2018, but that feels too conservative. I think Frazier will play for the Yankees this year, if that helps. The Yankees have their sights on the future in a big way. The Yankees are like the newly-divorced dad. For so long, they were trapped in a no-win situation. They stayed with Ellsbury, CC, A-Rod, Te(i)x and others because they wanted to wait until the kids went off to college. But, now they’ve lost A-Rod, Te(i)x and I imagine more this offseason, and dad’s dating all kinds of random prospects. Sadly, I don’t think Frazier will be a difference maker in 2017. This goes back to the scratch-off ticket for five hundred smackeroos. Can he break out? I suppose, maybe in a few years, but he looks to me like a 20/20, .260 guy in the best case scenario — some day! Not necessarily in 2017. Last year, he had 16 HRs, 13 SBs across two levels and hit .228 in Triple-A with a terrible strikeout percentage, a problem that has followed him all over the minors. Could he grow into more power? Sure, he’s only 22 years old, but that will likely mean less speed. I get the sense that a major league comparable player to him in his career will be Michael Saunders. A fine role player, but for Andrew Miller who had a nice contract until 2018? Well, maybe I’m missing the attraction of Frazier. For 2017, I’ll give him the projections of 28/4/34/.241/8 in 255 ABs with a call up around July when the Yanks turn their kids’ bedroom into a man cave.
