Baseball – Reds Trade Todd Frazier to White Sox

The Cincinnati Reds traded former Toms River South and Rutgers star Todd Frazier Wednesday to the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade involving the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to an official announcement by the White Sox. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports were the first to break news of the deal.

Frazier is coming off his second straight All-Star season in which he belted a career-high 35 home runs and knocked in a career-best 89. He hit .255 with a .309 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage while also stealing 13 bases.

Frazier's most notable highlight this season was his Home Run Derby performance during MLB All-Star week in his home ballpark. With his older brother, Charlie, pitching to him, Frazier outlasted the field and beat Joc Pederson of the Dodgers in the final round to win the derby championship in Great American Ballpark in the first year of a new format.

While Frazier enjoyed a career season, which included 4.4 wins-above-replacement according to Fangraphs.com to finish 16th among all National League players, the Reds struggled as a team. After a 64-98 campaign, the club has embarked on a rebuild under new general manager Dick Williams and traded its all-star third baseman looking to restock the organization with younger talent.

Frazier, who turns 30 in February, is in the second year of a two-year, $12 million deal that will pay him $8.25 million this upcoming season, according to Cots Baseball Contracts. Frazier is eligible for free agency following the 2017 season.

To acquire Frazier, the White Sox sent three top prospects to the Dodgers, with the Los Angeles sending three prospects back to Cincinnati. The Dodgers landed second baseman Micah Johnson, right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas and outfielder Trayce Thompson - the younger brother of Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Klay Thompson.

The Reds received second baseman Jose Peraza, second baseman Brandon Dixon and outfielder Scott Schebler - all from the Dodgers.

The White Sox jumped at the chance to bring Frazier aboard after its third basemen were among the least productive in baseball last season. Frazier will look to turn around a position for a 76-86 White Sox team in 2015 that ranked last in all of baseball in on-base-plus-slugging percentage and RBI and 29th out of 30 teams in batting average and on-base percentage.

After shipping Frazier off to Chicago, the Reds still maintained some of their Shore roots as former Colts Neck standout Anthony DeSclafani remains a significant part of their 2016 plans in the starting rotation. DeSclafani made 31 starts and pitched to a 4.05 ERA in 184 2/3 innings during his rookie campaign.