MLB GM Meetings 2018: Will Yankees' Clint Frazier be ready for spring training?

by Felix Pantaleon

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman provided an update on hyped left fielder Clint Frazier at the 2018 MLB GM Meetings in Carlsbad, Calif. on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 (11/5/18).

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CARLSBAD, Calif. — It was just an aside, but it was big news to Yankees fans eager to see one of their most hyped prospects get a shot at a starting job.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Clint Frazier will be ready for spring training while at the 2018 MLB GM Meetings at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on Monday.

“Frazier will be back,” Cashman said, while adding that Jacoby Ellsbury should be ready, too, for the spring.

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Frazier, 24, missed most of the 2018 season due to a concussion he suffered last spring training. Recurring symptoms from the injury plagued him throughout the season, limiting him to just 15 big-league games and 54 Triple-A games.

Frazier crashed into a wall and hit his head on a scoreboard during a spring training road game vs. the Pirates.

He hit .265 with an RBI and a .743 OPS in 34 at-bats with the Yankees. At Triple-A, he hit .305 with 11 bombs and 24 RBI in 210 at-bats.

The Yankees acquired Frazier alongside top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield in a package of prospects from the Indians in a deal that sent elite reliever Andrew Miller from the Bronx to Cleveland.

It’s possible Frazier could push Brett Gardner to the side for the starting left field spot or platoon with the aging lefty hitter.

Frazier’s season ended in early September when his concussion symptoms roared back as he tried to join the Double-A Trenton club for a rehab assignment.

At the time, manager Aaron Boone said he was hopeful Frazier would overcome the injury for good.

“I’m hopeful, confident that he will,” Boone said at the time. “But then again, it’s been a year of trying to get our hands around what’s going on with him and trying to get him moving in the right direction with momentum and hopefully this is a step in that direction.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.