EMERGING CORE

Prize prospect in Miller deal, Frazier won’t hold back big personality or talent for Yankees’ future core

Clint Frazier ready to bring big personality and skills to Yankees this season or next

was given X amount of dollars to play a sport that I’ve played my whole life,” adds Frazier, who had verbally committed to the Univ. of Georgia before getting drafted. “I’m fortunate enough to get to do this job every single day and impact people’s lives around me, whether it be on or off the field. I think it’s just a testimony to my family, my coaches and my friends for keeping me down to earth, regardless of the situation I’m in.”

With the Yankees stagnant in the standings during late July, Cashman got the green light from Hal Steinbrenner to unload several star veterans, including Miller, to jump-start an influx of young talent. Cuban reliever Aroldis Chapman went to the Cubs for highlytouted shortstop Gleyber Torres, while the Miller deal yielded Frazier, lefty pitcher Justus Sheffield (who is not related to former Yankee Gary Sheffield) and two other players.

Cashman calls Torres the “headliner” of the deal with the Cubs (which also brought three other players to the Yankees), but the GM also has plenty of praise for Frazier’s potential.

“(Frazier) is extremely talented. He has power, he can run, he plays with passion,” says Cashman, who adds that Frazier will probably begin 2017 at the Triple-A level. “He has the makeup to achieve excellence, and he has the hunger to succeed. He’s someone that stands out. In the Miller deal, I needed the twins (Frazier and Sheffield), the top of the talent structure of (the Indians) franchise to make a move. Frazier is impressive, and someone we can dream on.”

Cashman says Frazier got “baptized in Triple-A” this past year — the slugger batted .228 in 25 games for the SWB RailRiders, with three homers and 30 strikeouts — but the Yankee GM doesn’t think Frazier is far off from joining the big league club, although it would seem a stretch for him to do so in 2017.

“Do I think (Frazier) can impact 2017? There’s still more development to go, and if it takes another year in the minors, with the tool package he has, who knows?” says Cashman. “Players are ready when they’re ready. (Frazier) is waiting in the waters. It will be when he throws that exclamation point down.”

For Frazier’s part, he says his performance will dictate where he starts next year, and how quickly he will ascend the baseball hierarchy. But make no mistake — Frazier is not only confident about making it to The Show, he also envisions the current youth foundation developing into a future Yankee dynasty. Core Four 2.0 anyone?

“Anytime you get a group like the one that we have right now around each other at all times, you can’t help but dream what the future can be like,” says Frazier. “We’ve got to come together and unite as a core group and make it happen. There’s a lot of really good players in the system, so for all of us to be competing for one goal, to make it to the big leagues and ultimately win a championship one day, that’s something that all of us have talked about.”

Frazier doesn’t know Torres well, but he gushed about his fellow Yankee prospect, calling the Venezuelan infielder “really talented” and “beyond his years.”

“I’ve had brief conversations with (Torres) — he’s a gamer. He knows what it takes to go out there and compete every single day. I’m excited to play by his side one day. There’s a lot of guys ahead of me in the big leagues who deserve their chance to have that opportunity to play every single day. I’ve got to go up there and ultimately win a position. I do not know where I’m starting, but I know where I want to finish,” says Frazier, who is not opposed to playing any of the three outfield positions, although he prefers his customary center field spot. Days after the trade that made him a Yankee, Frazier took to Twitter for several important announcements: to document the shearing of his unruly red mane (an Aug. 1 photo shows Frazier in a hair salon chair, complying with the Yankees’ long-standing facial hair policy); to express his joy with being in pinstripes (“feels good to be a Yankee!” reads an Aug. 3 post); and to try and woo Instagram fitness and lingerie model Jen Selter. Take that Matt Harvey.

“@JenSelter now that both of us are in New York, I think it’s only fair you let me take you on a date! #SelterFrazierDate,” reads Frazier’s Aug. 4 post.

Alas, Frazier says “no potential date was set up” with Selter, but “there were a few messages exchanged back and forth.” Frazier says the Selter tweet gave him a big taste of what lays ahead with the New York media maw — the Frazier to Selter tweet story went viral almost immediately — but he is quick to add that he prides himself on having a “strong personality” that he says will not be muzzled.

“I definitely did not anticipate that to blow up like it did, but it did and I’m not going to go public with that again,” says Frazier with a laugh. “I got the run-down on how the media is the day after I was traded. I spoke with a few people from the organization and they kind of let me know how it was. I’m going to be myself. I’m not going to hesitate to send something out there that I think is me. I don’t want to be limited, and think I don’t have freedom of speech.”

“But I do make sure that before I send a tweet out, that I’ve looked at it for a few minutes. A bunch of mine are either a corny joke or something along the lines to fire up some fans and get ’em excited. I want the fans to be excited for me to debut,” he says.

Frazier devotes his offseason to working out at Atlanta’s Catalyst Fitness, where he says the fitness center’s founder, Bill Sonnemaker, is “destroying me every time I come in.”

Sonnemaker, who trains other MLB players such as Jon Lester, says Frazier is a “beast when he trains,” and that the slugger has a work ethic beyond compare.

Frazier is also a frequent visitor to his old high school, where he’ll routinely use the facilities and take hacks in the school’s batting cages along with his dad, Mark. All the preparation, sweat and tears are part of a singular goal — to help make the Yankees the Yankees again.

“When me and my dad got a chance to sit down (after the trade), I just looked at him and I was like, ‘Dad, I’m with the Yankees now. This is awesome.’ It’s just a different ball game with these guys — the resources that they have, the people,” says Frazier, who got star struck meeting Jackson and Alex Rodriguez this year. “Everyone is amazing here. For me to be able to put that jersey on one day, it’s going to be really fun, man. I’m really looking forward to it.”