Yankees mailbag: Why not let Clint Frazier play 3B?

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I mean, he might take grounders there in spring training for fun, or even before games. But no. Clint Frazier would be a top outfield prospect if he hadn’t barely worn out his prospect eligibility. You don’t move guys like that into the infield. In fact, you typically don’t move outfielders to the infield, with the exception of first base. Plus, playing third base, Frazier could get seriously hurt without enough experience and foundational knowledge of how to play the position at the big-league level. Sometimes, it’s a wonder how third basemen even see the liners hit at them, let alone react in enough time to make a play and not lose an eyeball. Works in a video game, not in real life. Madden has ruined everyone.

Jill, like you, I was thinking the Yankees would at very least add a third baseman, and probably also a starting pitcher. They have the prospects to trade for a higher-end of the latter, and they would seem to need the former — unless they truly believe Miguel Andujar is ready. But now — maybe in part due to all this idle time — I’m thinking they really might give Andujar a chance to win the job out of spring training. The 22-year-old landed much higher on top-100 lists from Baseball America (No. 59) and ESPN (No. 54) than I thought he would. Then again, would it have meant he wasn’t ready if he were to land, say, in the 80s on either list? I don’t know. Talent evaluators I’ve talked to rave about Andujar’s bat, how he’s ready to hit major-league pitching right now, but that they don’t know about his defense. Too often, it seemed Andujar would look smooth at third, only to see one of his throws go totally wild. Either way, general manager Brian Cashman has said the team would be fine with going into spring training with what it has, and Cashman doesn’t have much of a reputation for blowing smoke into the public sphere. 

Still think it’s low. The Yankees would have to move money to make it happen, and who are they going to move? Jacoby Ellsbury and a bunch of the $68 million he’s owed? Only David Robertson and Brett Gardner make the same level of sense, but they’re each set to play big roles. Darvish is going to hold out to get as much money as he can get. Some team will overspend for him. I don’t see the Yankees being that team, especially with owner Hal Steinbrenner’s request to get beneath the $197-million luxury tax threshold looming.

Sure. At some point, yes. The Yankees will need more than six starters. Last year, they used 11. Jaime Garcia got eight of those starts. Michael Pineda had 17. Caleb Smith got two. Bryan Mitchell got one. They’re all gone. That’s 28 starts, poof. So figure Chance Adams will get a shot at some point, provided he’s pitching well at Triple-A and his pitching day aligns with an emergency start or something. He could also seriously push the issue in spring training. Right now, though, Luis Cessa and Domingo German would be the first two options. They’re both on the 40-man roster. Adams doesn’t need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft until the offseason. So the Yankees *could* keep him in Triple-A if they don’t like what they see, for whatever reason.