Yankees rumors: New York never pursued Todd Frazier before trade to Chicago

All-Star third baseman Todd Frazier was traded from the Reds to the White Sox in a three-team deal on Wednesday, and the Yankees were reportedly never interested in bringing the New Jersey native back home. With Chase Headley on the roster for three more years it makes sense that the team wouldn't really go after another starting third baseman, but the returns on Headley's first full year in pinstripes were disappointing.

General manager Brian Cashman said at the Winter Meetings that the team's goal was to stay away from all things old and expensive. Frazier is 29 and will be a free agent in 2018, which kind of goes against the new policy of acquiring players who are cheap with multiple controllable years left ahead of them. Still, it would have been a nice story to bring the little boy who stood beside Derek Jeter in the picture everyone has now seen 1000 times to the Bronx to suit up for what amounts to his hometown team. It just wasn't in the cards.

The Yankees will be hoping for a resurgent season from Headley in 2016 to make passing on a player of Frazier's caliber a little more tolerable. As we discussed yesterday on the anniversary of his signing, Headley failed to live up to expectations at the plate and in the field after signing a four-year deal last December. It may be too early to view the deal as a mistake just yet, especially considering the lack of options the Yankees had when forced to find a new third baseman, but it stings a little that they could have gotten Frazier if things had gone a little differently.

More moves were promised by Cashman after he sent Justin Wilson to Detroit for two starting pitching prospects. Trading Andrew Miller now seems unlikely after unloading two key pieces of the bullpen already this offseason, but it's possible that Brett Gardner remains on the block. The team has been on the hunt for a young starting pitcher all offseason, which makes sense considering that all of the starting jobs are pretty locked up for position players. If Gardner stays put, however, the Yankees could look for some relief help if they don't want to lean too heavily on Jacob Lindgren, Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, and Tyler Webb. The fragility of the starting rotation is definitely a concern, and that's probably the main focus right now.

Would you have liked to see Frazier in pinstripes?