Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Future Trade Destinations for Adam Frazier

Oakland A’s

Whenever the season starts, the A’s are set to start with one of Franklin Barreto or Jorge Mateo at the keystone position. Both former top 50 prospects did very well at Triple-A last year. Barreto slashed .296/.374/.552 with 19 home runs and 15 stolen bases through 424 plate appearances. Good for a 121 wRC+. Mateo hit .289/.330/.504 with 19 home runs and 24 stolen bases. Good for a 96 wRC+.

But the A’s should be cautious about both. Their performances also brought a bit of a high batting average on balls in play. Mateo’s BAbip sat at .366 while Barreto’s sat at .374. This was also the first year Mateo had posted close to league average numbers since 2017, and hasn’t posted a 100+ wRC+ since 2015 (min. 300 plate appearances at a single level). Plus, Barreto isn’t necessarily your most proven commodity either. Granted, he only has 209 MLB plate appearances, he has a career -0.7 bWAR, and a 60 OPS+.

They do have some other options if both Barreto and Mateo fail. Sheldon Neuse and Chad Pinder have plenty of experience at second base, but Pinder just came off an 88 OPS+/1.7 bWAR season, and Neuse only started to play second base more frequently in 2019. So there is reason for concern between the both of them as well.

Obviously, they’re not going to get a Jesus Luzardo or A.J. Puk in return for Frazier, but I would definitely ask about their #11 prospect (MLB pipeline) Jonah Heim. Heim is a 24-year-old catching prospect who posted strong offensive numbers at Double-A and Triple-A last season. In 327 plate appearances (208 in Double-A, 119 in Triple-A), Heim batted .310/.385/.477 with nine long balls and 21 doubles. He posted a 125 wRC+ at Double-A and 135 wRC+ at Triple-A. Heim is graded as an above average defender, with a 55 arm and fielding grade. Impressively, he caught 55% of all runners trying to steal on him. He probably would be one of the team’s first options behind the plate, if it weren’t for Sean Murphy, who ranks as the 62nd best prospect in the MLB according to FanGraphs, and the 33rd best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.

New York Yankees

Now you might first be scratching your head at this one. Their middle infield is set with D.J. LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres at second base and shortstop. But this is a team that is extremely injury prone. Last year, many of their top offensive forces like Luke Voit, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Miguel Andujar missed most of, or good chunks of 2019 because of injury. Stanton and Judge look like they’ll be opening the 2020 season on the injured list.

But the Yankees were partly bailed out by breakout performances by Mike Ford, Gio Urshela, Mike Tauchman, and even to some extent LeMahieu. Many questions, especially about Ford, Urshela, and Tauchman, are going to come up. Can they reproduce, or come close to the numbers they produced in 2019, or will they go back to being the Quad-A roster depth they were before 2019? Can Andujar comeback after missing most of 2019? Will LeMahieu be the MVP candidate he was in 2019, or will he be the solid, but not spectacular bat he was before? How long will Judge and Stanton be out?

Frazier would provide some stability and durability for the Yankees. He also might see his power numbers get a bit of a boost with Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch. The Bucs could try to package Frazier and Chris Archer for (Clint) Frazier, among other notable names like pitcher Nick Nelson, or pitcher Albert Abreu.

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres created a hole at second base when they traded away former top 20 prospect Luis Urias. Then they went out, and fixed the problem,..sorta. They first acquired former number one overall prospect Jurickson Profar from the Oakland A’s. Despite the switch hitter being ranked as the number one prospect many years ago (2012-2013), Profar has yet to establish himself at the big league level.

The closest he got was in 2018 when Profar batted .254/.335/.458 with 20 home runs, resulting in a 107 OPS+ and wRC+, but that was definitely helped by a hitter friendly home ballpark with the Rangers (.874 home OPS, .712 away OPS). Last year, Profar hit .218/.301/.410 with 20 home runs across 518 plate appearances. Defensively, he was one of the worst second basemen in the baseball with a -15 DRS and -0.4 dWAR. He posted a bWAR of just 0.8. However, he did hit left handers extremely well, clocking in with a .305/.378/.457 line vs southpaws.

The Friars also signed Brian Dozier right before spring training started. Dozier used to be one of the perennial top sluggers in MLB, blasting 76 home runs between 2016 and 2017. But has recently declined significantly. Last season, Dozier hit .235/.340/.430 with 20 home runs, and a 95 OPS+ and a 99 wRC+. Along with his offense, Dozier is no longer the defensive infielder he once was. At the keystone, he posted a -5 DRS, 1.7 UZR, and 2.1 UZR/150. This is all after a season where he posted a sub-.700 OPS and 0.9 fWAR in 2018. Although there is still a bit of hope for Dozier. Last year during the months of June and July, the right-handed slugger hit .272/.385/.517 with eight home runs across 179 plate appearances. Dozier, like Profar, crushed LHP, hitting .280/.375/.525.

But Dozier and Profar are far from options that you’d like to rely on for an entire season. This was the second straight season Dozier posted a sub-100 wRC+ and OPS+. Profar has a career 88 OPS+ and a 2.8 bWAR and 4.0 fWAR. In an Adam Frazier-centered trade, the Bucs could probably get back one of the team’s young pitchers like Adrian Morejon, Ryan Weathers, or Cal Quantrill.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers could be a surprise contender for a Wild Card spot when the season opens up. They have a rotation headed by Corey Kluber leading Lance Lynn and Mike Minor. On the other side of the ball, Joey Gallo will lead Willie Calhoun (when he recovers from the broken jaw), Shin-Soo Choo, Elvis Andrus, Robinson Chirinos, and Todd Frazier in the line-up.

But second base is an issue for the Rangers. Despite hitting 30 home runs, Rougned Odor was one of the worst players in 2019. He finished the year limping to a .205/.283/.439 line, and a 79 OPS+. His defense was ranked below average with -5 DRS, and -4.0 UZR. Only six players posted a wRC+ lower than Odor’s 77, but all but two of them posted a higher fWAR. Odor also had a negative bWAR at -0.3, and a 0.3 fWAR. Odor was a strikeout machine. He struck out 30.6% of the time, which was the second most in the Majors. Prospect Nick Solak is probably the next in line if Odor has another year like 2019, but he could also be an option at center field depending on how 2019 breakout Danny Santana fares in regular playing time when the 2020 season starts. Both could post below average results, which wouldn’t be all that surprising.

While the Rangers don’t necessarily have a deep farm system, or one with many recognizable names on prospect leader boards, they do have a few young arms that could draw some interest. I would definitely ask about former top 50 prospect Kolby Allard, as well as utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa.