Chirinos, Frazier to the Mets official

The Texas Rangers have traded catcher Robinson Chirinos to the New York Mets, per Ken Rosenthal on Twitter. Oh, and halfway through this post, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Mets also got infielder Todd Frazier.

While there is no official “all clear,” Lance Lynn and Joey Gallo have reportedly not been dealt, despite reports of substantial interest in both players.

Chirinos, 36, was signed by the Texas Rangers this past offseason after the team declined his team option after the 2018 season, only to see Chirinos sign with the Houston Astros for a larger amount. Chirinos signed for one year with a 2021 team option, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the season, as well as injury issues, Chirinos only appeared in 14 games for the Rangers this year before departing again.

Chirinos slashed .119/.224/.143 in 49 plate appearances for Texas in 2020, and now will join the Mets, who made some late pickups in an apparent effort to make a push for the expanded 2020 playoffs.

Frazier, 34, spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Mets before being signed to a one year deal with a team option by Texas this past offseason. Frazier has slashed .241/.322/.380 in 121 plate appearances while splitting time between first base and third base. With a relatively cheap 2021 option ($5.75 million with a $1.5 million buyout), I thought Texas could hang onto him with an eye towards bringing him back as a cheap depth and insurance option for 2021, but apparently not.

Chirinos is reportedly getting the Rangers a player to be named later — as with the Mike Minor trade, this is likely someone who has been agreed to but isn’t in the 60 man player pool, and thus can’t be officially traded yet.

Between Minor, Frazier and Chirinos, the Rangers now have three open spots on the 28 man and 40 man rosters. Jerad Eickhoff is, I’m guessing, taking one of those spots. Elvis Andrus will likely be activated tomorrow to take a spot on the active roster. Brett Martin could be activated to take the final spot, or the Rangers could add one of their Alternate Training Site catchers to the roster. Which could mean Sam Huff — he has to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason anyway — but more likely would seem to be Nick Ciuffo or Tim Federowicz.

UPDATE — The deals are official. Two separate trades. Todd Frazier for a PTBNL, Robinson Chirinos and $360,000 for a PTBNL. The beats are saying Texas has a list of players to choose from for each deal.