Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Dark Horse Trade Partners For Adam Frazier

While there have been rumors that have been linked to Adam Frazier, these teams haven’t stood out among them, but make sense as trade partners with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier would most likely be a fit for most MLB teams. However, your usual suspects have so far included the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics in trade rumors surrounding the utility man. Other teams like the New York Mets and Washington Nationals could make logical fits as well.

That said, there are a few teams that would also make good fits in a Frazier trade, ones that have not really been pointed out by anyone. During the previous offseason when the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Starling Marte, the Mets and the San Diego Padres seemed to be making the biggest pushes to acquire the outfielder. Soon before he was traded, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers were two teams that appeared as potential teams making a last push for the outfielder. It ended up the D-Backs’ last push was enough to land him.

General manager Ben Cherington looks like he’s not just going to trade Frazier for the first offer that comes though the door. Given that he’s listening on every offer, this could lead to some potential dark horse teams as landing spots in a Frazier trade. Here are two that could become trade spots for Frazier.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays have been connected to just about every free agent available. The Jays have a very young core, one that Cherington helped build up before arriving with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Nate Pearson and veteran free agent signee Hyun-Jin Ryu make up a very talented core.

The Jays have been more focused on finding pitching and another infielder. Although their current core is strong, third base has been a question mark. While Vlad Jr. was originally brought up as a third baseman, his defensive issues moved him to first base last season. Although he has gotten in better shape to play the hot corner, he didn’t see a single inning there last season and the Jays would probably rather find a defensive alternative before shifting Guerrero back across the diamond.

One solution the Jays have thought about is moving Biggio to third base. Biggio has mainly served as a second baseman, but has seen time all over the diamond, including 80 innings there last year. Biggio has been productive with the bat since arriving in the majors. Through 695 plate appearances, Biggio has hit .240/.368/.430 with a 119 wRC+, .347 wOBA and 24 home runs. While his bat plays better at second base, it would work good enough at third base. Considering the Jays also need pitching and have been connected to a handful of free agent starters, they might be able to work out a deal where the Bucs send both Frazier and Joe Musgrove to Toronto.

The Blue Jays also have a strong farm system. They have six prospects in the top 100, including 2 catchers in their top 10 organizational prospects. Aside from catcher, they also have a handful of decent arms that might pique the interest of the Pittsburgh Pirates.