Yankees Acquire Todd Frazier: Fantasy impact

The Yankees topped all trade deals late Tuesday night when they acquired Todd Frazier from the White Sox. What impact does this have on fantasy baseball?

The Chicago White Sox continue their roster dump with what could possibly be the biggest trade in years. The team will trade third baseman Todd Frazier and relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the New York Yankees in exchange for Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard, Ian Clarkin and Tito Polo.

It’s a lot of names with a lot of fantasy baseball implications for both sides this year and beyond. There will be relievers getting save chances, prospects getting an opportunity at the majors soon and lineup protection for some.

Let’s start with the winning team, the Yankees. The team is clearly in a “win now” mode and rightfully so. The young stars are hitting well and the front office wants to capitalize. There were three needs this team needed and they solved two of them in this trade, first base and bullpen help.

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Yes, first base. Frazier will likely move across the diamond to play first base. With injuries to Tyler Austin and Greg Bird and Chris Carter not panning out, the Yankees clearly needed a replacement here.While you may be

He is hitting .207 with 16 home runs, 44 RBI and a 71:48 K:BB ratio. While you may be dealing with those poor stats from Frazier, moving to Yankee Stadium with the current batters and gaining first base eligibility to a recipe for second-half success.

Frazier doesn’t have much experience at the current Yankee Stadium, just 34 at-bats but he has two home runs and a .235 average. He does have some success in Toronto and Tampa Bay.

He is a free agent at the end of this season, so a two-month rental in New York could have big implications on where he signs for 2018. That will affect his fantasy value greatly.

The second player going to New York is very familiar with his surroundings. Robertson closed for the Yankees 2014, racking up 39 saves, and went on to be lights out for the White Sox for three seasons. He currently has a 2.70 ERA, 0.960 WHIP and 13 saves. The lack of saves is due to a poor offense scoring enough runs.

However, Robertson won’t be coming back to New York to close. The Yankees have Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. I think he and Dellin Betances will split time as the seventh and eighth-inning guys. Robertson could record a save or two if Chapman needs rest.

So, if you own Robertson, you might as well hold onto him for the low ERA and WHIP because he has no trade value now.

My colleague Brad Kelly wrote about Kahnle not too long ago. He called him an “underrated fantasy relief ace.” Even with the change in scenery, I still agree with him. His role will be diminished a little but with the number of times Joe Girardi goes to his bullpen, Kahnle will get a lot of use.

In 36.0 innings, Kahnle has a 2.50 ERA, 0.972 WHIP, 15.0 K/9 and a 1.8 BB/9. Even if he doesn’t strike out as many batters, he will still be valuable in AL-only, deeper or holds leagues.

Now, onto the rebuilding White Sox.

The only piece coming to Chicago that will make any fantasy impact this season is Clippard. He’s had a rocky season in New York, posting a 4.95 ERA and 1.294 WHIP in 36.1 innings. He does have a 10.4 K/9 but that goes along with a 4.7 BB/9 and 1.7 HR/9.

Clippard will be competing with Anthony Swarzak for the closer role. I think Swarzak gets the first chance, though. He’s been the better pitcher by far. He has a 2.47 ERA, 0.962 WHIP, 9.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. Though, neither man may be on the roster by August.

This would leave Dan Jennings, David Holmberg and Chris Beck as the only experienced arms in the bullpen, unless the White Sox receive another reliever by the end of the month.

Looking towards the future, the White Sox now have six of the top-30 MLB prospects and eight in the top 60. The No. 1 prospect will be making his major league debut on Wednesday. Yoan Moncada will take Frazier’s place in the White Sox lineup.

Moncada is hitting .285 with 12 home runs, 36 RBI, 17 steals and a .381 on-base percentage. He is widely available in ESPN leagues, 19.8 percent owned. As an everyday player, he will get a lot of attention. I would pick him up without hesitation.

Rutherford was the big name the Yankees sent over. He won’t be making his MLB debut for a while as he was just in Single-A. Rutherford was hitting .281 with two home runs, two triples, 30 RBI and a .342 OBP. I wouldn’t expect to see him for another two years.

Next: Diamondbacks trade for J.D. Martinez

The Yankees get a new first baseman to finish up the season as well as sure up their bullpen. The White Sox unload some money and keep adding to the pool of prospects.

Moncada is a must add. Robertson loses value now that he’s not the closer. Clippard and Swarzak will be competing for the Chicago closer job but I would stay away from the former.

This trade impacted both the short and long-term for both teams in a big way.