The Red Sox roster is filling up with former Mets players

The New York Mets and Boston Red Sox have a solid working relationship going. Their phenomenal bullpen arm Justin Slaten was traded there in the offseason from the Mets shortly after he was selected by New York in the Rule 5 Draft. The Mets would later send catcher Tyler Heineman to Boston for cash considerations to further their networking skills.

On Wednesday, the two clubs made another trade. Zack Short’s time in DFA limbo ended with the Mets trading him to Boston for those same cash considerations. Shortly after, former Mets first baseman Dominic Smith opted out of his deal with the Tampa Bay Rays only to find his way to Boston.

Smith gets a major league opportunity with the Red Sox as they look to fill the gap left by injured first baseman Triston Casas. He spent last year with the Washington Nationals batting .254/.326/.366. In his Red Sox debut on Wednesday, he went 1 for 4 with an RBI single.

The other Mets castaways on the Red Sox roster

Slaten, Heineman, Short, and Smith is a large enough collection of former Mets, albeit two who never actually played for the organization, to join one roster. As if that wasn’t enough, Josh Winckowski is still there. He falls into the same category as Slaten and Heineman as one-time Mets who never appeared in a game at any level. Winckowski was a player acquired in the Steven Matz trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. Later traded in a three-team deal with the Kansas City Royals, he’s one of those guys with a Mets connection many can look over. Shamefully, all the Mets got for him was Khalil Lee.

The Red Sox recently DFA’d a Mets player who was briefly in Queens. Lefty Joely Rodriguez, a member of the much-beloved 2022 Mets, saw his time come to a close. Despite pitching to a 6.55 ERA in 11 innings with Boston last year, they were tempted to bring him back. Oddly, he finished with an identical ERA and innings total. Facing exactly 51 batters yet again, the only improvement was fewer walks allowed.

But wait, there’s one more familiar name. Michael Fulmer was signed in the offseason despite the fact that he is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Only a Mets prospect albeit an important one in the club’s history as the primary piece traded for Yoenis Cespedes, it only adds to the collection of former Mets representing Boston.

Is it merely a coincidence the Mets and Red Sox have now made three somewhat under the radar trades? Hardly. David Stearns and Red Sox GM Craig Breslow have a chance to be good pals. Graduates of Harvard and Yale respectively, they can have a rivalry but also a working relationship. They share the same religious faith, Breslow representing Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic back in 2017 as a pitcher. They aren’t clones of each other. Nevertheless, they share commonalities that cannot be ignored.

The Red Sox are making no attempt to clone the Mets. A strong relationship between the two organizations can only benefit each ball club in future trade talks. Pete Alonso to the Red Sox this summer? Rafael Devers in a contract dump trade to the Mets? Let’s not get crazy.