After trade from Pirates to Padres, Adam Frazier says 'ultimate goal now is to win World Series'

Adam Frazier heard daily rumors about where the Pittsburgh Pirates would trade him – one day to the New York Mets or Chicago White Sox, the next to the Seattle Mariners — before manager Derek Shelton pulled him from Sunday’s game at San Francisco and broke the news he long had been awaiting.

Sort of.

“Shelton pulled me down in the tunnel and said, ‘It’s been a pleasure coaching you.’ We did our hugs, and I was like, ‘Well, where am I going?’ ” Frazier said with a laugh on a video conference call from Pittsburgh before flying back to the West Coast. “I was pretty excited when he said San Diego. To join a team like San Diego has is pretty unbelievable. I’m looking forward to getting after it.”

Frazier goes from the Pirates (38-61), who have the second-most losses in the National League, to the Padres (58-44), who are tied for the third-most wins in the NL. In return, the Pirates received three prospects, infielder Tucupita Marcano, outfielder Jack Suwinski and reliever Michell Miliano.

Not only does Frazier embrace the opportunity to reunite with former Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove, who was traded to the Padres in January and pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history, but to join a team that features fellow All-Stars Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth and is in the thick of a race for the NL West Division title.

“My whole life, all I’ve done is win until I got to the big leagues,” said Frazier, a sixth-round pick out of Mississippi State by the Pirates in 2013. “So to be able to do that again, be in a playoff push, I couldn’t be more excited about. That’s what we live for, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Trade winds have swirled around Frazier since December 2018, even as he developed from a utility player into a two-time Gold Glove finalist at second base and a dependable leadoff hitter known for making contact and driving the ball to the gaps. Frazier did his best to ignore the rumor mill, even as Friday’s trade deadline approached.

“It’s something I’ve become accustomed to the past three years,” Frazier said. “Every year, it was getting hotter and hotter. I learned through that time just to not worry about it. I can’t control it. I heard from teammates every day, ‘You’re still here?’ ”

In Frazier, the Padres acquired the major-league leader in hits (125) and plate appearances (428) who ranked among the top five with a .324 batting average and 28 doubles. Frazier is only the third player in the modern era to be traded while leading the majors in hits, joining Willie McGee (from Cardinals to A’s in 1990) and Red Schoendienst (Giants to Braves in 1957).

Frazier knows his role with the Padres could change dramatically, possibly from game to game. That was clear from a conversation with San Diego general manager A.J. Preller, who called Frazier a “winning offensive player” who “checks a lot of boxes for us.”

“Part of the conversation with Adam himself was, ‘Hey, be ready for second base, be ready for left and right field and be ready to come off the bench,’ ” Preller said. “We’re trying to do something that, as an organization, we’ve never done before: win a World Series. It’s going to take a little bit of sacrificing.”

After five-plus seasons with the Pirates, Frazier sounded like someone willing to sacrifice for a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in his career. He called the Padres “the most exciting team to watch in baseball,” and said he often watched their games after the Pirates played.

“I’m willing to do whatever,” Frazier said. “If that means having a day off and coming off the bench here and there, that’s fine. My ultimate goal now is to win a World Series. Just watching from the outside in, it looks like everybody’s on board with that in the Padres’ clubhouse. That’s where I’m going to be, too.”