Even though Arizona Fall League play has already begun, Adam Frazier should join the AFL for the rest of the season.
The Arizona Fall League has approximately a month left in its season. In my opinion, Pittsburgh Pirates’ utility man Adam Frazier should join the AFL for the rest of its season. The reason he should do this is to get work at shortstop.
One of the Pirates’ needs entering the 2017 season is back up shortstop. In an ideal scenario, Adam Frazier is this player. However, he needs work at shortstop first.
During his collegiate career at Mississippi State Frazier played shortstop. He also played shortstop during his first two years in the Minor Leagues. However, he has not played any shortstop since 2015.
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In 2016 Frazier played multiple positions. Between Triple-A and the Major Leagues he played third base, second base, and the corner outfield positions. However, he did not play any shortstop.
Frazier has past experience at shortstop. This experience has come both in collegiate and professional baseball. Due to this, it is reasonable to think he could pick things up at shortstop pretty quickly.
Since Frazier would be the Pirates’ backup shortstop, behind Jordy Mercer, it is not like he would have to be a gold glove caliber shortstop. His defense would just simply have to be serviceable. As long as Frazier’s defense at shortstop is good enough to give Mercer 10-15 games off next season, it will be good enough to be the backup shortstop.
If the Pirates can carry Adam Frazier as their backup shortstop in 2017, an already strong bench becomes even better. Instead of having to carrying a defensive first player such as Pedro Florimon as the fifth bench player, the Bucs could carry a more offensive minded player such as Alen Hanson.
Even if Frazier is unable to get work in the Arizona Fall League, he can still get in work at shortstop this offseason. There are always winter leagues in places such as the Dominican Republic and Mexico where Frazier could go to work on his game at shortstop.
I believe the Pirates should try to turn Adam Frazier into their backup shortstop in 2017. In order to do this, he should be playing shortstop this offseason. And that begins with the Arizona Fall League.
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