The New York Mets acquired catcher Robinson Chirinos from the Texas Rangers in the final moments before the MLB trade deadline on Monday, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Mets with a couple of buzzer beaters, getting third baseman Todd Frazier and catcher Robinson Chirinos from the Rangers and reliever Miguel Castro from the Orioles.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 31, 2020
The Mets are currently in fourth place in the National League East with a record of 15-20. Still, they trail the first-place Braves by just five games and the second-place Marlins by 2.5 games. With the expanded playoffs the MLB is deploying this season, the Mets felt they could bring in veterans to help them make a potential push for postseason contention.
Chirinos, who is 36 years old, is hitting just .119 on the season over 42 at-bats. He’s a career .231 hitter who has shown solid power over the course of his career. Prior to this season, he hit double-digit home runs in three straight campaigns. In total, he hit 52 home runs over those three seasons spent with the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. Still, his sinking batting average and zero home runs this season offer a bleak outlook on how much he’ll be contributing for the Mets in 2020.
He joins fellow veteran Wilson Ramos as the main options behind the plate for the Mets moving forward. Ramos is batting .241 on the season with two home runs and eight RBI. Like the newly-acquired Chirinos, Ramos has displayed good power numbers in his career prior to this season.
The Mets clearly feel one of them could step up and provide a spark to their offense as the season continues. With the increase in playoff teams, the Mets decided to bring in veteran players who are struggling this year as the price to acquire them isn’t particularly high.
It’s an interesting approach, but at least it’s relatively low in risk. The Mets begin a two-game series against the Baltimore Orioles tomorrow.
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