Clint Frazier was looking forward to seeing his former teammates with this weekend's three-game series between the Yankees and Chicago Cubs, but he will not be playing. The Cubs designated Frazier for assignment prior to Friday's 7:05 p.m. opener.
Before Frazier's anticipated return to New York, which would have been his first time facing the Yankees as an opposing player, he opened up about his five-year tenure in the organization, via an interview this week with the Chicago Sun-Times.
Among other aspects, Frazier -- who now has a beard and wears a nose ring with the Cubs -- expressed discontent over having "to be a cookie-cutter version" of himself on the Yankees.
"If not, then you were, like, a really bad distraction, it seemed like," Frazier said. "So I don't miss being told how I had to look for the last five years."
After the Yankees released Frazier this past November, he signed a one-year, major-league contract with Chicago, reportedly for $1.5 million.
"I like it here," Frazier said. "Certainly don't miss some of the things over there. And I'm really enjoying the way that this clubhouse has maneuvered. It seems like there's a lot of guys in here that are just accepting of everyone. And it's been really good for me."
Frazier, 27, is slashing .216/.356/.297 with zero home runs and one RBI through 19 games this season.
"I didn't play super-consistently a lot in New York," Frazier said. "And it's kind of trending that way here, where I'm having to be ready in the high-leverage situations in the eighth inning, pinch-hitting off guys who are throwing 1,000 miles per hour."
He played his final game as a Yankee last June 30, ending the 2021 season slashing .187/.317/.317 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 66 games.
Frazier, who added, "A lot of it is hard to really look at and understand where it went wrong at times," slashed .239/.327/.434 with 29 home runs and 97 RBI in 228 regular-season games from 2017-21.
The Yankees acquired Frazier -- the 2013 MLB Draft's No. 5 overall pick -- and three others in a July 31, 2016 trade with Cleveland for LHP Andrew Miller.