Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining Adam Frazier’s Current Trade Market
By Noah Wright
The trade market continues to change as the offseason trucks along. This will impact the Pittsburgh Pirates and second baseman Adam Frazier. With so many middle infielders on the roster, including the recent addition of Wilmer Difo, Frazier looks like he is the odd man out given his two years of control remaining.
It is unlikely the Pittsburgh Pirates will compete again before Frazier is a free agent. This combined with his elite second base defense, as well as his ability to play strong defense in the outfield, while being a good enough hitter makes Frazier one of their best trade chips. So, what does his trade market currently look like?
Frazier has been the primary second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates the last two seasons. While he did have a poor offensive start to the 2020 season, he did start to heat up in the second half having a 112 wRC+, .338 wOBA and .763 OPS in his last 123 plate appearances of the season. To go with that, he put up his usual low strikeout numbers, going down in strike three just 10.6% of the time, but saw his walk rate take a large step forward walking 10.6% of the time as well.
From 2016 to 2019, Frazier was roughly a league average batter with the Pittsburgh Pirates posting a .279/.342/.420 line, .327 wOBA and 103 wRC+. He also averaged about 2.2 fWAR per 600 plate appearances which falls in line with league average numbers.
Most of Frazier’s value is in his defensive ability at multiple positions. The last two seasons Frazier has been a Gold Glove finalist at second base having +3 DRS, 2.1 range runs above average and a 5.1 UZR/150. He’s also been among the best in terms of Outs Above Average. Frazier has also played a decent bit of outfield throughout his career where he has had +9 DRS, 2.9 range runs above average and a 1.5 UZR/150 across all three spots.
He’s also been a pretty good hitter when it’s mattered the most. From 2017-2019, Frazier had a .331 batting average and .412 OBP in high leverage situations. Throughout his career, Frazier has a .293/.375/.437 line in 388 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. This is all reflected in his 4.29 career clutch rating mark on FanGraphs.
As stated earlier, Frazier only has two years of control remaining. While that doesn’t fit in with the Pirates’ window of competition, it does make him a potential trade piece. Recently, Frazier settled for $4.3 million to avoid arbitration which is a decent price for a consistent league average player.
While glove first second basemen aren’t a hot commodity, Frazier’s ability to play second base and all three outfield spots while being a solid hitter for a player of his caliber make him a potentially valuable player. It also helps he’s able to come through when it matters the most.
Currently, the free agent market holds similar players like Kolten Wong, Cesar Hernandez and Enrique Hernandez. Wong and Cesar are similar players in terms of hitting ability. Since 2016, Wong has a 100 wRC+ and .321 wOBA. Hernandez has a 103 wRC+ and .329 wOBA in the same time frame. While Enrique hasn’t been as good of a batter as Wong, Cesar or Frazier having just a 94 wRC+ and .309 wOBA, he does bring similar utility to Frazier having most of his experience in the field at second base and the three outfield spots while being a positive defender.
Among teams with an immediate need at second base, the Oakland A’s are atop the list as they are set to lose both Tommy La Stella and Marcus Semien to free agency. The Toronto Blue Jays are another team that could use another infielder. Currently they don’t have a good answer at the hot corner, but could push second baseman Cavan Biggio to third base if they acquire a second baseman. The Red Sox are a team that has had awful production at second base for a few seasons now and could use a stop-gap for top prospect Jeter Downs.
However, while Frazier could take over a primary second base job, there are many teams that could use his services as a utility man. The New York Mets have had atrocious defense the past couple of years. Their team ranks last in DRS since the start of 2018. While they do have second base covered with Jeff McNeil, left and center field are questionable with Dom Smith and Brandon Nimmo. Like the Jays, they could push their second baseman to third base where J.D. Davis, a well below average defender, currently is if they were to acquire Frazier.
The New York Yankees are another team that could always use an outfield capable player. While they did just sign D.J. LeMahieu to a six-year, $90 million contract, their outfielders like Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton are oft injured players. These are all roles Frazier could fill.
Frazier fits any team looking for either a primary second baseman, or a utility man who could improve their defense. Frazier’s market isn’t overly crowded. While there are similar players to him, he isn’t one of one million per say. This will help the Pittsburgh Pirates get back something worthwhile if they are able to trade him before the start of spring training.