The New York Mets managed to swing two trades prior to Monday's trade deadline. The Mets acquired backstop Robinson Chirinos and infielder Todd Frazier from the Texas Rangers, and righty reliever Miguel Castro from the Baltimore Orioles, report MLB.com's Mark Feinsand and MLB Network's Jon Heyman.
Castro, 25, is the most notable addition the Mets made Monday. He has started to emerge as a reliable late-innings reliever this year and has struck out 25 batters in 15 2/3 innings. Furthermore, Castro will remain under team control through 2022 as an arbitration-eligible player, so he's not a rental. He'll give New York's embattled bullpen a nice lift.
For Frazier, this will be his third stint in New York after finishing 2017 with the Yankees and spending 2018-19 with the Mets. He is hitting .241/.322/.380 with two home runs on the season. The Mets lost third baseman J.D. Davis to a hip injury Sunday and Frazier provides depth at the position.
Chirinos, 36, has had a brutal season to date, hitting .119/.224/.143 with no home runs in 49 plate appearances. He's also rated as a subpar defensive catcher throughout his career. Chirinos lost his starting job to Jose Trevino in recent weeks and, with the Mets, he is likely to serve as the backup to Wilson Ramos.
The Mets sent the Rangers a player to be named later for Chirinos and Frazier, two impending free agents. The Orioles received pitching prospect Kevin Smith and a player to be named or cash in the Castro trade, reports Feinsand. MLB.com ranks Smith as the No. 12 prospect in New York's system and says he has a "solid floor value as a bullpen asset."
New York came into Monday two games behind the Phillies for the No. 8 seed in the expanded National League postseason field and 2 1/2 games behind the Marlins for second place in the NL East, which would secure an automatic postseason berth.
