Driving Over the Triboro Bridge


Todd Frazier's adventure in free agency ends with him going from one New York club to the other.

The New Jersey native, who became one of the leaders on the Yankees team that fell one game shy of last year's World Series, lands a two-year deal with the Mets.

Call it swapping one set of pinstripes for another, or driving over the bridge connecting the Bronx and Queens. Either way, Frazier gets to play close to home and finds a ready-made job on a team badly in need of big bats and dependable gloves.  Just about to turn 32, the onetime Little League World Series champ has smacked 25 or more home runs in each of the last four seasons. But he needs to improve that batting average, which sunk to .225 and .213 in '16 and '17.

The deal is also the strongest signal that the Mets are finally moving on from David Wright. Their onetime captain is now 35, and recovering from two more major surgeries and dealing with the ongoing condition spinal stenosis.

And it apparently shows that the Yankees have confidence in rookie Miguel Andujar to handle 3rd base should he win the job in spring training. Frazier's $8.5 million price tag might just be too high for an insurance policy and bench player.

While his time with the Yanks ends, Todd leaves a nice legacy: that's "thumbs down" gesture that became a Bronx rallying cry for the Wild Card winners during their unexpected playoff run.

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