From the time that Masyn Winn was 13 years old, the plan was to make Winn’s dream of playing professional baseball and becoming a major-leaguer a reality.
The plan was the reason Winn’s mom, Tiffany Rawson, had him take “Money Matters” as a freshman in high school, so he wouldn’t one day become a bankrupt professional athlete. It was the reason she told one teacher why Winn wasn’t going to play football in high school – because “he’s got a million-dollar arm.”
It was the reason Andrew Guerrero has known Winn since he was a sophomore in high school in Kingwood, Texas, two years before he officially became Winn’s advisor and agent.
It was the reason why, when Winn’s school guidance counselor told Rawson, “I don’t think you are getting him ready for college,” Winn’s mom agreed with her.
“You are correct,” Rawson told the counselor. “I’m getting him ready to be a professional athlete out of high school … Her and other people thought I was that crazy mom.”
the plan seemed to be progressing well. He split time between pitching and playing the infield, going 13-0 with an 0.67 ERA on the mound, striking out 117 hitters in 76 1/3 innings. At the plate he hit .417 with eight homers.
The plan next called for Winn to spend that summer, in 2019, playing for USA Baseball, where he was expected to be the starting shortstop for the national team. A good summer, with success in the showcase events and tournaments, would hopefully set him up for his senior year and a strong chance to become a first-round pick in the 2020 amateur draft.
Winn’s future could not have been any brighter – until the day all of the planning was upended with what Winn says now was “a bad decision.”
“I personally thought my career was over, just being young and naïve,” Winn said.
Kicked off the national team as a result, Winn returned home. “To say he thought his career was over is definitely an understatement,” Rawson said. “He came home and wallowed in it for a while, and I let him, for about six weeks.
“It was tough, it was absolutely heartbreaking. But first of all I have to say I was very proud of the fact that he was honest from the beginning. The kids that he was with were not, and they didn’t get quite as severe a punishment as he did.”
