MLB trade rumors: Yankees' Clint Frazier isn't 'off the table'

by Felix Pantaleon

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman explains that he doesn’t consider highly regarded outfielder Clint Frazier as “off the table” in trade talks.

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NEW YORK — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has said he won’t trade Gleyber Torres.

The same isn’t necessarily true about Clint Frazier.

“I never said he’s off the table,” Cashman told reporters before Friday’s game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

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Frazier, 23, is considered a righty slugger who wouldn’t just start for a handful of teams in left field right now, but would also be an impact hitter.

Entering Friday, Frazier was hitting .298 with eight homers, 14 RBI and .919 OPS in 44 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s been called up to the majors three times and he’s hit .350 (7-for-20) with an RBI.

The fifth pick in the 2013 draft out of high school, the Yankees acquired Frazier as the center piece of a trade with the Indians that sent elite reliever Andrew Miller to Cleveland. The Yankees also got top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield in the deal.

“I think Clint’s got a chance to be a really good baseball player in the majors leagues for a long time and we’re glad — it took a lot to get him here, would certainly like to keep him here. We’ll see, again, how things have panned out. Certainly, this winter he was asked about a lot and we had a lot of dialogue with a lot of people. He’s still here. He’s not someone that’s easily accessible. He’s going to be someone that’s going to be asked about a lot, and understandably so.”

Cashman said the Yankees have a lot of “high-end” talent it could deal.

“The hope is to somehow thread the needle to where we improve ourselves to the degree that it lines us up in a way that we feel strongly that we’ve improved ourselves and if our team plays to the best of their abilities and stays healthy the rest of the way, we’ve got as good a shot as anybody,” he said. “I have a lot of high-end talent that’s taken a long time to acquire or cultivate but it’s going to cost something to get stuff so we’ll play that game here over the next month and see where it takes us.”

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