Mets send Ryan as PTBNL in Frazier deal

The Texas Rangers have received minor league righthanded pitcher Ryder Ryan from the New York Mets as the player to be named later in the Todd Frazier deal, it was announced today.

Ryan was a fairly well regarded prospect coming out of high school, but dropped to the Cleveland Indians in the 40th round of the 2014 MLB Draft despite being in the top 200 on the BA draft list, as his strong commitment to the University of North Carolina scared teams off. Ryan was a two-way player who the Indians drafted as a pitcher, but he played first base at North Carolina and never hit.

The Indians drafted Ryan again as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2016, this time in the 30th round, and Ryan signed for a $100,000 bonus. The Indians put him on the mound, and he has worked as a relief pitcher his entire professional career. The New York Mets acquired him in 2017 from Cleveland in the Jay Bruce deal.

Ryan, who turns 26 in May, was eligible to be picked in the Rule 5 Draft earlier this month, but obviously wasn’t selected. He hasn’t appeared on the Baseball America top 30 lists for the Indians or Mets, though he was #24 on the Mets’ list on Fangraphs prior to the 2019 season. Fangraphs said at the time he threw in the mid-90s and his command and breaking ball were such that he could become a middle reliever. Ryan spent 2019 in AA, putting up a 3.05 ERA in 44.1 IP over 25 games, with 40 Ks against 23 walks.

If you’re interested in reading more about him, someone at Amazin Avenue did a pretty in-depth write-up on him after the 2018 season.

Ryan is the second righthanded reliever the Rangers have received as a player to be named later from the Mets in the past few months, having also received Steve Villines in September as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Ariel Jurado to the Mets. The Rangers are still owed a player to be named later from the Mets in the Robinson Chirinos trade.