NEWSLETTER
UPDATE 3: After learning earlier today that he’d cleared waivers, we’ve been waiting to learn whether Clint Frazier would accept his outright assignment to Triple-A Iowa. That would keep him in the Cubs’ organization, albeit off the 40-man roster. It looks like he’s accepted the assignment.
The official team transaction log now has Frazier as outrighted to Iowa, and the Iowa Cubs roster has been updated to include Frazier. Moreover, Jesse Rogers reports that Frazier has accepted – or will accept – the assignment:
It’s a modestly surprising decision from Frazier (only modestly, as you’ll see in the updates below), but certainly a welcomed one. It would be great to keep him in the organization, even if it’s not at all clear if and when the big league Cubs would actually give him playing time (also, Iowa currently has four outfielder who are really raking right now and/or legit prospects: Nelson Velazquez, Darius Hill, Greg Deichmann, and Narciso Crook, as well as first base/bat-mostly types like Nelson Maldonado, Jared Young, and Alfonso Rivas).
We’ll see when Frazier actually reports to Iowa, and then what the plan is for him to get playing time. I think you HAVE to prioritize everyday at bats for him, but, again, I have serious trouble reading the Cubs on this situation. I just don’t know what they want or expect from him.
*Previous updates and post follow*
UPDATE 2: Looks like the earlier report was a bit premature. Frazier HAS cleared waivers, but he actually has three days to decide whether to accept the outright or head to free agency. The decision may come down to the choice between keeping the rest of his contract with the Cubs (about $1 million remaining), or heading to an organization – on a minor league deal, potentially – where he feels like he has a better chance at reaching the majors again and actually getting a chance to play. Cubs kinda showed their hand on where they value him in the pecking order, so he may very well decide to depart.
*Previous update and post follow*
UPDATE: So far, it looks like Clint Frazier has indeed cleared waivers, and Jared Wyllys reports that Frazier has until 2pm CT today to decide whether to accept the outright to Iowa, or head to free agency.
*Original post follows.*
A morning heads up that we’ll get a resolution on the Cubs designating outfielder Clint Frazier for assignment last Friday. When a player is DFA’d, a team has seven days to trade, waive, or release the player.
With Frazier, there was an indication that the Cubs were hoping he would clear waivers and then accept an outright assignment to Iowa (he has the option to elect free agency if he clears waivers). I think it’s possible – Frazier has almost a million bucks left on this year’s deal, and it’s possible a team out there would not be willing to take that on and also use a 40-man spot – though I’m not certain Frazier would want to get further buried at Iowa. After all, there were ample on-paper opportunities for him to get playing time recently, and the Cubs instead elected, repeatedly, to keep and start Jason Heyward.
I said all I’ve got on the subject, and why it left me frustrated. We’ll see what happens today with the DFA resolution, and whether there’s a small chance that it’ll go in a way that softens that frustration. Of course, even if Frazier clears waivers and accepts the outright to Iowa, that’s not going to make me any less frustrated that he wasn’t getting starts while Seiya Suzuki was out, or that guys like Nelson Velazquez or Narciso Crook aren’t getting those looks either.
By the way:
