Prospect Josh Winckowski shocked Mets traded him to Red Sox

Josh Winckowski was a member of the Mets for less than two weeks before being traded for the second time this winter.

The right-handed pitcher, which was acquired by the Toronto Mets as part of the Steven Matz deal on Jan. 27, was shipped to Boston 13 days later as part of the three-team deal that sent Andrew Benintendi in Kansas City and scored the Mets’ outfield. perspective Khalil Lee.

Winckowski said he was playing video games with former minor league teammates in the Blue Jays organization when he learned he had been treated again.

“We were in the middle of the game and I could feel my phone rumble on my desk,” Winckowski told WEEI in Boston. “It was later in the game and it was getting pretty intense, but I turned it around and had two calls from my agent, a voicemail and some buddies texting me: ‘What- what is happening?’

“I’m like, ‘I think something crazy is going on. Can we end this game? So we come to third place and I finally check with my agent and of course he’s like, ‘You’ve been traded to the Red Sox. “I’m like, ‘No way.’ I mean, I was a Met for a week and a half. It was so surprising. You always know it’s a possibility but… it was really surprising. I expected to play a bit for the Mets, at least.

Winckowski, 22, grew up in the Fort Myers area where the Red Sox train. He received an invitation to spring major league training for the first time in his career.

“On the Jays, I really didn’t think I would ever be traded,” Winckowski said. “The Jays’ initial trade was super surprising. So the Mets trade for me and you have 20-25 calls and you just try to acclimatize yourself and describe yourself a whole bunch.

The Mets then transferred Winckowski and a player to be named later to land Lee, 22, who was ranked No.8 for the Royals through the MLB pipeline. The center-back stole 53 bases in 2019 at Double-A Northwest Arkansas with a .264 / .363 / .374 cut-off line.