Frazier Comes to Terms With the Reds
Jul 09 | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers junior First Team All-American shortstop Todd Frazier (Toms River, N.J.), who was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round with the 34th overall pick of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, signed with the organization, ending his standout career with the Scarlet Knights. He became the fifth Scarlet Knight draftee to sign a professional contract this summer.
Frazier joined teammates David Williams (Franklin, N.J.), Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, N.J.), Frank Meade (Linden N.J.) and Mike Bionde (Pompton Plains, N.J.), who each signed earlier this summer after being drafted and have already begun their professional careers.
Frazier, a consensus First Team All-American, will report to the Reds' minor league affiliate Billings Mustangs in Montana to begin his professional career. The junior shortstop was the unanimous selection as the BIG EAST Player of the Year and was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes and Brooks Wallace awards, recognizing the National Player of the Year. He was also named the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Division I Player of the Year. Frazier finished the 2007 season fourth in the nation in both home runs (22) (including three grand slams) and runs per game (1.38), eighth in the country in walks per game (0.98), and 10th in the nation in slugging percentage (.757) and home runs per game (0.35). He broke the Rutgers single-season record for home runs (22), home runs by a leadoff hitter (22), runs scored (87), walks (62), doubles (24) and total bases (187) and finished in the top-6 in every offensive category, excluding triples. He led the BIG EAST in home runs, runs scored, slugging percentage and walks, and finished second in doubles, total bases and on-base percentage and ranked among the BIG EAST leaders in virtually every other offensive category. Frazier reached base safely in all but one of RU's 63 games this past season, including the final 57 contests.
In just three seasons with the Scarlet Knights, he placed himself on several Rutgers career record charts. Frazier is the Scarlet Knights' all-time leader in home runs (42) and runs scored (210), and is second in walks (138) and total bases (434), and third in hits (241), slugging percentage (.625) and stolen bases (65), and fifth in runs batted in (152). Frazier started all 174 games in his career with the Scarlet Knights, owning a .347 career batting average.
Frazier joins a Mustangs club that features another Scarlet Knight in Meade, a 24th-round pick by the organization. The Mustangs own an 8-12 record this season and currently sit in third place in the Pioneer League's North Division. Meade has seen action in five games so far with two hits, including a double and an RBI to go along with three walks.
Williams was a 15th-round selection of the New York Yankees and is playing with the Yankees' Class A affiliate, Staten Island in the New York-Penn League. Williams is the club's starting right fielder. He has played in 19 of the team's 20 games this season, hitting .250 (16-for-64) overall. The slugger has scored eight runs and driven in two more to go along with seven walks. Staten Island is 10-10 overall, in second place in the New York Penn League's McNamara Division. Recently, he traveled to KeySpan Park to face fellow conference member Brooklyn Cyclones, the same sight where he played a part in the Scarlet Knights' BIG EAST Tournament Title a little more than a month ago.
Hill was also drafted in the 15th-round, with the San Diego Padres selecting the lefty slugger. He has played in 13 games for the organization's Rookie affiliate in the Arizona League in Peoria, Ariz. Hill is the team's starting left fielder. He has played in all 13 of the Padres' games this season, with four hits, three RBI, two runs scored and four walks. The Padres are 8-5 on the year and currently in third place in the Arizona League.
Bionde was a 35th-round pick by the Kansas City Royals, the same club where former Rutgers standout David DeJesus serves as the team's starting center fielder. Bionde is a member of the club's Advanced Rookie League affiliate Idaho Falls Chukars. Bionde has played in 10 games as a second baseman with the Chukars. He has six hits, including a double with two RBI and three runs scored. Like the Billings Mustangs, Idaho Falls is a member of the Pioneer League. The Chukars are 14-6 overall and in first place in the Pioneer League's South Division.
In all, Rutgers six current players and one member of its 2007 recruiting class drafted with red-shirt sophomore first baseman Tom Edwards (Caldwell, N.J.) (41st-round pick of the Texas Rangers) and Rutgers signee Jaren Matthews (Teaneck, N.J.) (17th-round pick of the Boston Red Sox) also being selected in the 2007 First Year Player Draft - the most in Rutgers' 12 years in the BIG EAST Conference.
