Clint Frazier cut by Yanks after another injury-filled year - MLB

NEW YORK — Clint Frazier‘s tenure with the Yankees may have ended after five unfulfilling seasons when New York designated him for assignment to open a roster spot for a prospect ahead of the winter meeting draft.

Frazier can be claimed by another major league team off waivers. If he is not, he could be assigned outright to the minors but he would have the right to reject the assignment and become a free agent because he has at least three years of major league service.

Infielders Rougned Odor and Tyler Wade also were designated for assignment.

Now 27, Frazier was the fifth pick overall in the 2013 amateur draft by Cleveland and was a prized prospect when he was acquired by the Yankees in the July 2016 trade that sent reliever Andrew Miller to the Indians.

Frazier made his major league debut in July 2017 but the outfielder never has had more than 246 plate appearances in a season. His 2018 season was wrecked when he collided with an outfield wall at Bradenton, Florida, during a spring training game, sustaining a concussion that limited him to 41 plate appearances that season.

He hit .267 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs in 2019 but struggled with defense, reaching a low point against Boston that June when he misplayed balls off the bat of Eduardo Nunez, Andrew Benintendi and Michael Chavis.

His defense was much improved by this season, but he hit .186 with five homers and 15 RBIs. He didn’t play after June 30 because of what the Yankees called vertigo.

“I’d love to have the opportunity to talk about this situation publicly and probably plan to do so soon,” Frazier wrote on Twitter on Oct. 11. “My issues have been very personal to me and something I’ve wanted to handle privately, but there’s been a lot of inaccurate things reported about my injury that I’ll clear up.”

Frazier had a $2.1 million salary last season and had been eligible for arbitration.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said last week that Frazier was working out in Atlanta ahead of 2022.

“There’s a lot of expectation and optimism that what transpired will not be an issue as he enters next season,” Cashman said.

New York also traded right-hander Nick Nelson to the Philadelphia Phillies along with minor league catcher Donny Sands for minor league infielder T.J. Rumfield and left-hander Joel Valdez.

With the moves, the Yankees were able to protect five prospects in next month’s winter meeting draft. The Yankees selected the contracts of right-handers Stephen Ridings and Ron Marinacci, infielder Oswaldo Cabrera, outfielder Everson Pereira and left-hander JP Sears to the major league roster.

SEATTLE (AP) Aaron Judge homered for the third time in two games, Anthony Volpe and Greg Allen also went deep and the New York Yankees stretched their winning streak to four with a 10-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

Judge hit a towering fly ball on the first pitch of the seventh inning from reliever Darren McCaughan that carried just enough to clear the fence in left-center field, even if it would not have been a homer at Yankee Stadium.

It was the 18th of the season for Judge, who hit a pair of homers in the series opener on Monday night.

While Judge hitting another homer will get the headlines, it was Volpe’s long ball that broke open the game. With two outs in the third inning, Seattle starter Logan Gilbert caught too much of the plate with a 1-2 slider and Volpe drove the pitch 413 feet for a three-run shot and a 6-0 lead. It was Volpe’s eighth homer of the season and snapped a 2-for-22 slide for the rookie.

Allen, filling in for injured center fielder Harrison Bader, hit his first of the season leading off the fourth inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa also had a key two-run single in the first inning as the Yankees took advantage of an error to give starter Nestor Cortes a 3-0 advantage before he took the mound.

Kiner-Falefa had another two-run single in the ninth. New York has scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since Sept. 15-17, 2020.

Cortes (5-2) mostly cruised through five innings, allowing two runs and five hits with six strikeouts. Ty France and Teoscar Hernández had RBI doubles in the fifth inning. Judge nearly stole another hit from Hernández after robbing him of a homer on Monday, but his diving attempt at Hernández’s liner fell for a double.

Gilbert (3-3) lasted just four innings for the second time this season. The five earned runs allowed were a season-high and the four strikeouts matched a season-low.

SEE YA LATER

Seattle catcher Tom Murphy and manager Scott Servais were both ejected by plate umpire Brian Walsh in the sixth inning. Murphy was ejected after yelling toward first base umpire C.B. Bucknor following a check-swing that was called a strike. Servais argued the decision to eject Murphy and was quickly tossed by Walsh. It was the second ejection this season for Servais.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Bader (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL after leaving Monday’s game in the third inning injuring his right hamstring running out an infield single. OF Franchy Cordero was recalled.

Mariners: McCaughan was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to add a long reliever to the bullpen. RHP Juan Then was optioned to Tacoma. It was Seattle’s first roster move in 24 days.

UP NEXT

Yankees: RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-5, 5.58) took the loss despite allowing only one earned run over five innings in his last start against Baltimore. Schmidt has gone at least five inning in five of his last seven starts.

Mariners: RHP George Kirby (5-4, 3.43) was knocked around for seven earned runs and four home runs allowed in his last start against Pittsburgh. Both matched career highs.

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