I’ve made no secret of my Todd Frazier fandom. I truly like Frazier as a player and believe he would be great for the New York Mets. The Mets have not had a proper third baseman since 2015 and it is pretty revealing.

There’s a scene in Moneyball where Billy Beane is sitting with his scouts around a table and asks them if they can A) really believe they can replace a player like Jason Giambi and B) afford this player who can “replace” Giambi? The scouts say no to both questions and Beane demands they start to think differently. 2013 David Wright is not walking through the doors of Citi Field nor should the Mets be expecting him to.

Todd Frazier fits for a number of reasons. For example, he is great in run prevention which is where the Mets definitely need help. Mets third basemen combined -17 DRS in 2017 while Todd Frazier posted +10 DRS by himself. Mets third basemen combined to post a .329 wOBA while Frazier posted a .340 wOBA.

Frazier by the way would cost roughly $10 million a year which might very well be in the budget for even the Wilpons. The biggest arguments against Frazier is that he doesn’t hit for a high batting average, which is far less important than the amount of outs a hitter makes.

Weighted on-base average (wOBA), which accounts for walks and values certain hits over the other, has them middle of the pack offensively.  Frazier has averaged being a 4 WAR since 2014 and is a massive upgrade on defense. By the way, for the health stricken Mets, Frazier has played at least 147 games in each of the last five seasons.

Frazier has also expressed a willingness to play first base which he’s done 94 times in his career and would give the Mets some insurance for Dominic Smith. Earlier in his career Frazier even played second, short, left and right field.

Signing Frazier would move Asdrubal Cabrera over to second base. Cabrera played shortstop, third and second base in 2017 with his only positive UZR (0.9) coming at second base despite -6 DRS at the position.

Another thing to worry about is that if Cabrera gets banged up (fairly likely) then you have Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera back at third where they simply don’t belong. Frazier would help creative better infield depth and defense, two things lacking the last couple of years.

Sandy Alderson wants to make value signings and here is one sitting right in his wheelhouse. Frazier would provide an upgrade for the Mets while also being well worth his contract. Frazier also wants to stay in New York. It makes a lot of sense especially if the Mets decide not to pursue Jason Kipnis.