Mets get prospect Khalil Lee in three-team trade with Royals, Red Sox

The Mets have received outfield prospect Khalil Lee from the Royals in a three-team trade that will send Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City. The Mets are sending right-handed pitcher Josh Winckowski—who they recently got as part of the Steven Matz trade—to the Red Sox and giving up a player to be named later in the deal.

As far as the big prospect lists go, Lee appeared on just one, coming in at number 61 on the Baseball Prospectus top 101 ahead of the 2019 season. Because of the pandemic, the 22-year-old outfielder’s most recent game experience came that year, which he spent in Double-A. In 546 plate appearances for the Royals’ affiliate, he hit .264/.363/.372 with eight home runs and 53 stolen bases. And Jarrett Seidler of Baseball Prospectus notes that there were reports of a positive swing change that came out of the Royals’ alternate site in 2020.

In the field, Lee has spent most of his minor league career in center field, though he’s played a good amount of right field, too, with much less playing time in left field.