The Los Angeles Angels have brought in more positional competition, adding infielder Adam Frazier to their infield fray, according to a report written by Charlie Wright of MLBTRadeRumers.com via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The deal is for the usual minor league agreement with a spring training invite.
Frazier is basically the definition of a journeyman. He’s been with five teams in his 10-year major league career, and he split last season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals. He struggled in Pittsburgh, but Frazier delivered what Wright referred to as near league-average offensive production while playing at four different spots in the field.
He started out as a reliable bat who could also play around the diamond. Frazier was drafted by the Pirates back in 2013 and made it to the majors three years later, and after that he cracked the regular lineup in 2017. He played both second base and in the outfield once he managed to get in the lineup, and he stayed there for the next four seasons.
The high-water mark of Frazier’s career happened in 2021, which he actually made the All-Star team by hitting .324 as a table-setter for the Pirates. He was then dealt to the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline for three players—Tucupita Marcano, Michell Miliano and Jack Suwinski.
He only lasted for half a season in San Diego, as the Padres moved him to the Seattle Mariners after that. Frazier then signed with the Baltimore Orioles after a year with the Mariners, and he inked his deal with the Royals after his time with the Royals. He wound up back with the Pirates this offseason after Pittsburgh swapped him for pitcher Cam Devanney in a midseason deal with Kansas City.
Frazier will find plenty of opportunities in Anaheim if he can show the kind of offensive productivity he displayed in Kansas City last year. Second base will be his biggest opprotunity, with prospect Christian Moore competing with newly acquired Vaughn Grissom coming over from he Boston Red Sox. The Angels have plenty of non-roster invitees competing with him, including Chris Taylor, Nick Madrigal, Yolmer Sanchez and Donovan Walton.
There may be opportunities in the outfield, too. The Angels have open positions in left and center, although there’s a possibility could take the center field job again depending on thow math spring training experiment goes. There’s also an opprotunity in left with Taylor Ward having been traded to the Orioles for starter Grayson Rodriguez.