During his pregame media availability before Friday’s series opener with the Cubs, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked a question, as you might expect, about Clint Frazier’s pending return to the Bronx.
In the midst of asking that question, NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty mentioned an interview earlier this week in the Chicago Sun-Times where Frazier professed to liking Chicago more than New York, and Boone had to interject with a deadpan quip:
“I like Chicago too. Good town,” he smiled.
Kuty then asked Boone why he thought Frazier’s time in New York just didn’t work out, and the skipper paused for a minute before giving this answer:
“I think the injury bug got him – obviously the concussion a couple years ago – and he had to battle through some things that wouldn’t let him get on the field as much as we or he would’ve liked,” Boone said. “When you’re a young player, that can certainly stifle your development, so I think that was probably the biggest factor.”
Frazier was acquired at the 2016 trade deadline and hit .239 with 29 homers and 97 RBI in 229 games with the Yankees between 2017-2021, but he was simply non-tendered this past offseason as he headed into his second year of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two.
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He signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Cubs last December, but unfortunately, he didn’t last long enough to make it to the Bronx, as the Cubs DFA’ed him Friday afternoon after he hit just .219 in 19 games around an appendectomy that cost him five weeks in April and May.
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