Clint Frazier Is Having a Lot of Fun at the Yankees’ Expense After Signing With the Cubs

In Wednesday’s Hot Clicks: a former New York outfielder has some fun on Twitter, Matthew Slater’s locker-room speech and more.

Cubs fans are going to love him

Clint Frazier’s tumultuous time with the Yankees is over, and he’s not broken up about it at all.

Frazier came to New York in the 2016 trade that sent Andrew Miller to Cleveland and became the team’s No. 2 prospect. He arrived with big expectations and was quickly placed under the microscope by the New York media. There was so much talk about the length of his red hair that he ended up getting it cut to quell what then manager Joe Girardi called a “distraction” and there was even a rumor (denied by both Frazier and the club) that he had asked to wear Mickey Mantle’s No. 7.

Frazier dealt with injuries and struggled to break into a crowded Yankees outfield. After a strong finish to the 2020 season, his '21 was derailed by vertigo symptoms that the team said threatened to end his career. He was released last month and signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Cubs just before the lockout.

And, boy, does Frazier sound happy to be out of New York.

Frazier posted a Photoshopped image of himself in his new pinstripes on Twitter on Tuesday, joking that he was “leaving my razor at home” (a reference to the Yankees’ strict anti-facial hair policy). He also alluded to the Mantle rumor in announcing that he’ll continue to wear No. 77.

Frazier made sure to point out that he wasn’t trying to rile up Yankees fans.

“Me being happy I’m on the Cubs has nothing to do with Yankees fans. It has to do with the fact that I’m happy to be able to play somewhere I’ll get a better chance at playing,” he wrote, adding a laughing emoji.

The icing on the cake was a reply to a guy whose Twitter bio says he’s a fan of the Yankees, Cowboys and Cavs, who said he was glad Frazier was gone.

“So am I,” Frazier replied.

You can’t blame Frazier for letting his hair down both literally and metaphorically. 

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).