Cubs DFA Clint Frazier right after he badmouthed the Yankees

Clint Frazier made comments about his former team, the New York Yankees, but was DFA’d by the Chicago Cubs just prior to the start of their three-game series.

The Chicago Cubs are in the Bronx this weekend to take on the New York Yankees in a three-game series. That meant it was outfielder Clint Frazier’s return to Yankee Stadium, who has been rather outspoken about his former team. In fact, he revealed ahead of the series that he “doesn’t miss some of the things” on the Yankees.

Well, just before the start of the Friday contest, the Cubs announced that they have designated Frazier for assignment. The move happened after the team activated four players to return from both the injured and restricted lists. Specifically, the move was made to reinstate Chris Martin from the restricted list.

Clint Frazier DFA’d by Cubs just before return to New York to face Yankees

The timing of the move sure was something, considering that Frazier made the comments about the Yankees the day prior to the start of the series. In fact, Frazier declined to speak with the media just after receiving the news that he would be DFA’d.

During his interview with Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times, Frazier described that players had to be “a cookie-cutter version to be on [the Yankees],” and that if you were not, you were labeled “a bad distraction.” That, and the outfielder said he “didn’t miss how [he] had to look for the last five years.”

Originally a fifth-overall selection by the now-Cleveland Guardians in 2015, Frazier was acquired by the Yankees in 2016 in the Andrew Miller trade. He made his debut with the team 2017 and showed flashes of being great. However, he dealt with some controversy and injuries during his time with New York. The team ultimately released him from his contract following the 2021 campaign.

During his five seasons with the Yankees, Frazier slashed .239/.327/.434 while recording 29 home runs, 97 RBI, 100 runs scored and 169 hits in 228 games.

Frazier played in just 19 games for the Cubs this season, where he recorded a .216 batting average, a .653 OPS, one RBI and eight hits.

Last month, the Seattle Mariners optioned Jarred Kelenic to the minors just ahead of the team’s series against the Mets in New York, the very team that traded him back in 2018 for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz.  Now, almost a month later, Frazier was designated for assignment just ahead of his return to New York to face the Yankees.