I’m sure they saw him play. He’s been scouted to death, like most prospects.
He’s struggling now. He was a BA top 100 prospect in 2019, and then didn’t play in 2020 and hasn’t been ranked since. He may never crack anyone’s list again, but that’s the Mets’ problem now. The bottom line for Boston is the Mets wanted him badly enough to give up a PTBNL that Bloom wanted. And this winter, the two teams agreed on a list of candidates. And that list isn’t going to change if Lee flops completely and strikes out in his next 100 at bats. The Sox sold high on a guy they controlled for mere seconds.