The trade rumor mill is starting to turn more and more each day as the calendar nears the trade deadline of July 31. One move that baseball insiders say is inevitable is Chicago White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier being acquired by the Boston Red Sox.
Frazier is a good source of power from the right-hand side of the plate and the White Sox are willing to part with veterans in exchange for prospects.
Frazier will also become a free agent following the current season and contracts that are expiring are ones that are often on the trade block for teams that are not contending for the playoffs.
The solutions currently on the roster for third base have not made things any better. Brock Holt is out with vertigo and is not a known quantity yet. Rafael Devers their top prospect could be called up but the team does not want to rush his development.
Dave Dombrowski the Red Sox team president had a successful history of getting near term upgrades for older players while making a postseason run. That has been one of his biggest tasks since taking the reins of the Red Sox.
With Boston on pace to win over 90 games and beginning to separate, albeit 2 ½ games, from the rest of the American League East, Dombrowski is likely thinking about roster improvements while eyeing October.
Frazier would fit that bill perfectly for Boston. He started the season slow but since the beginning of June has 9 home runs in his past 35 games while batting .242. Since the beginning of the 2014 season, the third baseman has 120 home runs and no one doubts the pull power he has that would be beneficial to the team in Fenway.
Frazier as noted is playing a walk year, meaning he would not be in Boston to block top prospect Devers come the 2018 season, assuming no one pries the young star from the hands of Dombrowski during the trade deadline moves.
In all likelihood this decision has already been made it is only a matter of details and making the announcement, but things are never certain until they are.
