Josh Winckowski was a member of the Mets for less than two weeks before being traded for the second time this winter.
The righthanded pitcher, who was taken over by the Toronto Mets in the Steven Matz deal on January 27, was shipped to Boston 13 days later in the three-team deal that sent Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City and scored the Mets outfield. prospect 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 rumbling on my desk,” Winckowski told WEEI in Boston. “It started later in the game and it got pretty intense, but I turned it around and I got two calls from my agent, a voicemail and some friends texting me, ‘What’s going on?’
“I’m like, ‘I think something crazy is going on. Can we finish this game?’ So we come in third and I finally get in touch with my agent and sure enough, he says, ‘You traded to the Red Sox. ‘ I’m like, ‘No way.’ I mean, I was a Met for a week and a half. It was just so surprising. You always know it’s a possibility, but … it was just really surprising. I was expecting to play for the Mets at least a little bit. “
Winckowski, 22, grew up in the Fort Myers area where the Red Sox train. He received an invitation for spring training in the Major League for the first time in his career.
“On the Jays, I really didn’t think I would ever be traded,” said Winckowski. “The Jays’ first transaction was super surprising. So trade the Mets for me and you have 20-25 phone calls and you’re just trying to acclimate and you’re describing yourself a whole lot. “
The Mets displaced Winckowski and a player who would later be named, 22-year-old Lee, 22, who was rated the No. 8 of the Royals by the MLB pipeline. The midfielder stole 53 bases at Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2019 with a slash of .264 / .363 / .374.