Todd Frazier will tell Yankees fans what is on his mind during YES Network broadcasts

Todd Frazier has always been one who tells people what is on his mind.

Now, the former Major League baseball player will get to tell Yankees' fans what is on his mind about 20 times this season as an analyst on the YES Network's pre- and post-game shows.

Frazier, who played for six different Major League teams, including the Yankees in the latter half of the 2017 season and the Mets twice in a 10-plus season career from 2011-2021, said he will make his debut on YES April 18 when the Yankees host the Los Angeles Angels.

"I'm a guy that's going to speak my mind. I'm going to root for the Yankees for sure. But, at the same time, I'm going to hold guys accountable,'' said Frazier, who played in the All-Star Game in 2014 and 2015 and was the 2015 Home Run Derby champion when he was with the Cincinnati Reds, "I'm that guy that always tell people you're going to get what you're going to get from me.

"I'm going to pretend I'm at a bar with people, just having a nice conversation, being candid but also fair at the same time and just enjoy watching Yankee baseball and rooting them on. I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised and happy about what I can bring to Yankee baseball.''

Little League World Series got Frazier started on broadcasting.

To anybody who knows Frazier's history and the history of his family, it is no surprise it was the Little League World Series that got Frazier started with his broadcasting career.

Frazier, who led the Toms River East American team to the 1998 LLWS championship, worked for ESPN as an analyst during last year's LLWS. He also worked for ESPN as an in-studio analyst during last season's playoffs.

A conversation with his friend Brodie Van Wagenen, the former Mets' general manager and current players' agent, led to this opportunity to further his broadcasting career.

"I don't necessarily need to broadcast, but I want to do some things for a local team,'' said Frazier, who lives in Toms River. "They reached out to YES Network and they were excited to put me on board.''

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Knowing what players go through

Frazier played with some of the current Yankees, including Aaron Judge, so he knows what players go through during the course of a marathon 162-game season that includes long road trips.

He said anything he says about players will be done in a certain way, especially when they are slumping.

"I'm not going to be that guy that's going to jump on them because I've been there before,'' said Frazier, who hit 218 home runs and had 640 RBI during his career. "It's going to be in the right way. I'm going to bring up examples of me going through things like that and what they can try and do to get out of it.

"I'm not necessarily going to knock them down. I'm going to give a nice candid answer of what they might be going through, what they need to keep working on and be fair. That's been me and my motto throughout out my career, but also understanding sometimes when guys need to pick it up a little bit. There's not going to be much controversy with me.''

Getting his feet wet in coaching

Frazier, who retired in the spring of 2022 after he was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the spring of 2021 and then played for the United States team in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, has been busy coaching his 9-year-old son Blake in the Toms River East Little League, travel baseball and basketball.

He said coaching his son is much more nerve-wracking than playing.

"You want them do so well,'' Frazier said. "You want to will them to hit the ball every time they swing the bat. You've got to find that happy medium of not getting too anxious and too crazy with them and making sure he's having fun, which he is. ''

Frazier said he constantly asks his son questions

"I'm the head coach of the team, but at the same time, I'm his biggest critic, too. I tell him, 'Hey listen, what you were thinking there?' '' Frazier said. "I like for him to tell me what he did wrong so in the future he doesn't have to lean on me so much. He's doing a great job of it.

"He throws righty, hits lefty. I don't know how that happened. But, it works out for him. He's one of our better pitchers. He's exciting to watch. He loves the game of baseball. If he's having fun, I'm having fun, no matter what he does.''

Frazier said he envisions himself coaching his son's team three years from now when Blake hits the magic age of 12. Frazier was 12 in 1998, when he and his Toms River East American teammates became national celebrities.

"That will probably be the last time I coach him because then it will be time for him to get ready for intermediate ball,'' Frazier said.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Todd Frazier on YES Yankees' broadcasts says he'll speak his mind