New York Mets: Reflecting on Todd Frazier’s two years in Flushing

Some thoughts on the two years Todd Frazier spent with the New York Mets and why he wasn’t a fit.

For the past two seasons, the primary third baseman on the New York Mets has been Todd Frazier. This changes in 2020 with Frazier now playing for the Texas Rangers. The Mets will move forward with a far more beloved player at the hot corner, Jeff McNeil.

Frazier’s two seasons in Flushing were very average. At times, it felt below the mean.

In those two seasons which equaled out to 971 plate appearances, Toms River’s own slashed .233/.316/.418 with 39 home runs and 126 RBI. While not quite in the atrocious category, they left a lot to be desired.

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Even so, Frazier was a better Met than I think a lot of us—myself included—give him credit for. He posted positive defensive numbers each year on a team that lacked superb glove work.

Over the past two years, Frazier also had his share of clutch hits for the Mets. He was a known locker room leader and in case you forgot, the man who came up with the Polar Bear nickname for Pete Alonso.

Despite these positives, Frazier never felt like a true Mets player. A reason for it may be the timing of when he did play for this ball club.

The 2018 Mets were supposed to pick up right where the 2016 squad left off. The 2017 campaign was their mulligan during an era of postseason appearances. Well, things didn’t go as many of us scripted. Injuries, poor play, and an early-season collapse in June all made this into a less memorable campaign.

During this year with the Mets, Frazier hit only .213 and did something he never typically did: miss time due to injury. An ironman of sorts throughout his career, Frazier only participated in 115 games for the Mets in 2018.

Fans were rubbed the wrong way from the start. Frazier represented the plethora of bad signings made by Sandy Alderson in the offseason. Together with Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, Jason Vargas, and even Jose Reyes, he was just another veteran making good money and not playing up to his salary.

Fortunately, Frazier had a healthier year in 2019 and even raised his batting average to .251. He still failed to endear himself to fans in part because of his famous trigger finger on Twitter with the block button.

The improvements on the field didn’t help much. Frazier was viewed as a lame-duck veteran last year. In a season with a lot of excitement about younger players, it felt like his at-bats were better utilized on J.D. Davis and others.

The situation was never right for Frazier in Queens. It’s nobody’s fault. The timing didn’t mesh well.

On a squad bound for the postseason with plenty of winning pieces around him, it would have been a different story.

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Perhaps in a few years when the young Mets core is more established, someone of Frazier’s ilk would fit in more nicely. The past two years felt more like plugging a square veteran into a round roster spot better taken by a guy with a future with the Amazins.