Todd Frazier, Robinson Chirinos Traded to Mets from Rangers Before 2020 Deadline

The New York Mets are 15-20 and sitting in fourth place in the National League East, but that didn't stop them from filling the role of buyer at Monday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. 

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Mets acquired third baseman Todd Frazier and catcher Robinson Chirinos from the Texas Rangers on Monday. Frazier notably played for the Mets during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns.

The Rangers provided the full details:

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported New York also landed relief pitcher Miguel Castro from the Baltimore Orioles.

Frazier is the headliner as a two-time All-Star who is surely a familiar face for the Mets. First baseman Pete Alonso said, "This is news to me," per Tim Healey of Newsday. "But if he does come back, I love Todd. Todd is the man. He's always welcome here in the clubhouse. Never a dull moment."

The third baseman slashed .251/.329/.443 with 21 home runs and 67 RBI last season for the Mets and put up head-turning offensive numbers in the past when he drilled 40 home runs in 2016 for the Chicago White Sox and 35 long balls in 2015 for the Cincinnati Reds.

In 31 games this year, he is slashing .241/.322/.380 with two home runs and seven RBI.

As for Chirinos, he has appeared in 14 games this season and struggled on the way to a .119/.224/.143 slash line, zero home runs and two RBI. Those are far from inspiring numbers, although he was much better last year for the Houston Astros with a .238/.347/.443 slash line, 17 long balls and 58 RBI.

Castro has a 4.02 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 24 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of relief work this year.

It may seem somewhat surprising to see the Mets so active given their position in the standings, but they are much closer to contender status this season with expanded playoffs of eight teams from each league than they would have been in a typical year.

They are five games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East but just 2.5 games behind the Miami Marlins and two games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for second. The second-place team in each division will make the playoffs this year.

They are also just 2.5 games back of the final wild-card spot.