Toms River's Todd Frazier Traded To Yankees

TOMS RIVER, NJ — New York Yankees fans from the Toms River area just got another reason to cheer for the Bronx Bombers: beloved local star Todd Frazier will be donning the pinstripes.

Frazier was traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Yankees as part of a seven-player deal Tuesday night, the Chicago Tribune reported. Joining Frazier, who's been playing third base in Chicago, in the trade to New York are relief pitchers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle; the Yankees are sending relief pitcher Tyler Clippard and three prospects, outfielder Blake Rutherford, left-handed pitcher Ian Clarkin and outfielder Tito Polo, the Tribune report said.

Frazier, 31, is in his sixth full season in the major leagues. He was called up by the Cincinnati Reds in 2011 and played in 41 games that season before grabbing national headlines in 2012 in his first full season. Frazier, who played shortstop for the Reds, was a contender for the National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2012 and grabbed positive national headlines for his actions off the field as well, including an incident in Pittsburgh where he saved a choking man in a restaurant by performing the Heimlich maneuver.

In 2015 he won the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby during the All-Star festivities in Cincinnati that summer. On Dec. 16, 2015, he was traded to Chicago, and was hitting .207 this season while playing third base for the White Sox.

Frazier on Wednesday tweeted that he is excited to be joining in the Yankees, but also tweeted a farewell to Chicago White Sox fans and thanked them for their support.

Frazier has been a local star going back to 1998, when he was one of the key players on the 1998 Toms River East American All-Stars who won the Little League World Series and gained the nickname "Beasts of the East," thanks in part to Frazier's penchant for heroics both as a pitcher and a hitter.

Frazier also starred at Rutgers, hitting 42 home runs, the most in school history.

He and his wife, Jackie, live in Toms River with their two children.

Todd Frazier speaks with a young fan during the "Play It Clean" presentation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office in January 2015. Photo by Karen Wall, Patch Staff