Reds trade All-Star 3B Todd Frazier to White Sox
Earlier this month at Redsfest, Todd Frazier said he talked to Bob Castellini and Walt Jocketty and told them he wanted to be a Red for life.
Less than two weeks later, the All-Star third baseman is a member of the Chicago White Sox, as the Reds sent Frazier to Chicago in a three-team deal that brought three prospects — infielder Jose Peraza, outfielder Scott Schebler and outfielder/infielder Brandon Dixon — from the Dodgers to the Reds.
A closer look: Who the Reds got in Todd Frazier trade
The trade of Frazier is the latest in the Reds' continued attempt to rebuild the team that went to the playoffs three times in four seasons from 2010 to 2013, but has lost a combined 184 games over the last two seasons.
“This was very difficult to do, a difficult phone call to make, but as we look forward to what we’re set out to do here, to get this team back in contention as quickly as we can, we felt this was part of the process to get to that point,” said Walt Jocketty, the Reds’ president of baseball operations. “We feel like the players we got are going to be part of our future. We think that both Peraza and Schebler could possibly be part of the team this year and certainly in the future.”
Todd Frazier trade analysis: Sad but necessary for Reds
In the short term, Jocketty said Eugenio Suarez is “penciled in” as the team’s third baseman in 2016. Suarez played shortstop after Zack Cozart’s knee injury last season and showed he had a bat that needed to be in the lineup. With a healthy Cozart, Suarez now fits in at third base.
Schebler, who, like Peraza, made his big-league debut last year, could also be in the mix in left field.
Peraza could be the starting second baseman if the team trades Brandon Phillips. The team is reportedly been in talks with the Nationals about sending Phillips to Washington to reunite with former Reds manager Dusty Baker, but Phillips would have to waive his full no-trade rights.
The team could also trade right fielder Jay Bruce and closer Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is under investigation by Major League Baseball after a reported domestic violence incident in October. The Reds had reportedly had a deal with the Dodgers in place for Chapman at the Winter Meetings, but it fell through when reports of Chapman’s incident surfaced.
How will Reds sell rebuilding to fans?
On Wednesday, Jocketty said the team is continuing to talk with other teams to trade Chapman, but he is unsure when that could be completed.
“We still have some clubs that have talked to us,” Jocketty said. “We’re not close to anything yet, but we continue to talk to clubs and they continue to express interest. I don’t know how to determine when that might happen. A club could call and move quickly on it, but right now we’ve talked to several clubs and it’s a process.”
The Reds had targeted Peraza in the Chapman deal, and still wanted to get the Dodgers prospect after the team’s trade focus moved beyond the troubled Chapman.
“Peraza was a guy we had focused on and identified as a guy we felt like could be a second baseman or shortstop for us for a number of years,” said Jocketty, who will be ceding control of the Reds’ front office after this season. “He’s young, he’s had a lot of success at a young age. He’s an above-average runner and a solid defensive guy. He’s hit. He does a lot of things well. We’ve had guys watch him quite a bit both with the Dodgers last year and the Braves last year and years before and had excellent reports on him.”
A second baseman and shortstop, Peraza was rated the No. 38 prospect in baseball before the 2015 season by MLB.com and No. 54 by Baseball America.
The 21-year-old Peraza started the 2015 season with the Braves, the organization that originally signed him. He was traded along with pitcher Alex Wood and Bronson Arroyo and two other players to the Dodgers at the trade deadline.
The Dodgers also received a trio of prospects, getting center fielder Trayce Thompson, infielder Micah Johnson and right-hander Frankie Montas. Many national commentators questioned the Reds not taking the trio from Chicago straight-up instead of involving the Dodgers in the three-team trade.
“We looked at that, but we did like the guys we got better,” Jocketty said. “Peraza was the key for us. But we did like the guys they got. We liked Schebler’s left-handed bat too, and that was important.”
In Frazier, the Reds lose not just an All-Star, but one of the great ambassadors of the game. Frazier, who turns 30 in February, was drafted out of Rutgers by the Reds in the first round of the 2007 draft with the 34th overall pick. Frazier will make $7.5 million this season and then have one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent following the 2017 season.
Unlike most draft picks, Frazier was already a well-known baseball player, having led the Toms River, New Jersey, team to the Little League World Series in 1998.
Frazier played shortstop through the minors for the Reds, but didn’t really find a home positionally until 2012 with the Reds. By 2013, he had replaced Scott Rolen as the team’s everyday third baseman and reached his first All-Star Game in 2014. This past season, Frazier had the biggest highlight of the Reds’ season, winning the Home Run Derby during All-Star Week at Great American Ball Park.
In addition to his play on the field, Frazier was visible in the community and readily signed autographs and posed for photos with fans. His easy-going style and performance on the field made him a fan favorite.
“I understand the business, but bottom line is I’ll certainly miss the fans in Cincinnati,” Frazier said. “They accepted me as one of their own. I enjoyed every minute playing for them and interacting for them.”
Todd Frazier's Reds career by the numbers
Jocketty said Frazier’s off-the-field contributions in addition to his on-field heroics made it a difficult call to make on Wednesday.
And for Frazier, it was a bittersweet day - looking forward to a new opportunity, but also saying goodbye to a place he’d come to consider a second home.
“I want to tell (the fans) thanks for all the support, thanks for being there for me through the All-Star festivities, it’s something I’ll never forget,” Frazier said on Wednesday. “The way they made me feel during those times at the Home Run Derby, it was a dream come true and I have to thank them for that. They were so electric. The bottom line, I’m going to miss those guys the most. It’s tough leaving them. I know they’ll have a little piece of my heart and I hope they’ll have a little piece of me in theirs’. Endless ‘thank yous’ for the way the treated me and my family.”