Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Future Trade Destinations for Adam Frazier

One of the trade pieces the Pittsburgh Pirates still have on their roster is Adam Frazier. While the market for second basemen isn’t too hot right now, what could be Frazier’s market in the near future?

Right now, there aren’t too many trade partners for Pittsburgh Pirates infielder/utility man Adam Frazier. Many teams have second base, and outfield covered. But by the trade deadline, or even earlier than that, teams might get desperate for a solid player with utility like Fraizer has.

Before we continue, we need to establish Frazier’s value. In 2019 Frazier produced a .278/.336/.417 line with 10 home runs and 33 doubles in 608 plate appearances, the most of his career. His overall offensive output was slightly below average with a 99 OPS+ and 97 wRC+ (100 is league average).

Frazier was better at the plate in 2018, batting .277/.342/.457 with 10 home runs and 23 doubles in 352 plate appearances and finishing with a 118 OPS+ and 116wRC+. 2018, however, seems to be more of an outlier than the regular. Fraizer’s 2019 more represents his career averages, so don’t expect much more than a .280/.340/.410 line. Plus, Frazier is a bit inconsistent. In his career, the lefty swinger has a .720 OPS in the first half of the season, but a .803 OPS in the second half.

But Frazier’s value is more in his glove than his bat. Despite Frazier having a -1 DRS, he still had a 2.9 UZR, which ranked 4th in the league. His 4.6 UZR/150 was 3rd in the MLB as well. Outs above average put Frazier in the best of light. With +11 OAA, Frazier ranked 19th in the MLB, and was in the top 97th percentile among MLB players. Frazier also can play the outfield to an average level. In his career, the 28-year-old has +3 DRS, and a -1.2 UZR. Overall, Frazier posted a 2.7 bWAR in 2019, and has a career 7.8 bWAR.

In essence, Frazier is a league average bat who can provide above average defense at second base, and other positions as well. He’ll provide about 2.5-3.0 WAR a season, which is starting level. Plus he still has two full years of control in both 2021 and 2022 through arbitration. While he isn’t going to reel in a top 100 prospect, unless he is packaged with another player, or a team gets extremely desperate, he could still bring in a quality player with a high ceiling.