Former Merrimack and Silver Knights standout Mickey Gasper is now set to take his talents to the Minnesota Twins after being traded by the Red Sox on Christmas Eve. (AP photo)

One buzz of a cell phone can change a pro athlete’s life.

Case in point: Mickey Gasper was enjoying a quiet early Christmas Eve dinner in New Jersey with his parents in their dining room last Tuesday when his cell phone rang.

“We were just about wrapping it up and it was from a number I hadn’t had, I just saw ‘Boston Red Sox’ on the caller ID,” Gasper said Tuesday in an interview with The Telegraph. “And I thought, ‘I wonder who could be calling me on Christmas Eve?'”

He found out – it was Red Sox general manager Craig Breslow, telling him he’d been traded to the Minnesota Twins for lefty pitcher Jovani Moran.

“He just informed me of the trade,” Gasper, the former Nashua Silver Knight and Merrimack High standout said. “It was a little bittersweet, obviously growing up in the area and all the people there that supported me.

“But at the same time there’s an organization out there that wants me to be part of their team. You think about all the sad stuff for a second, but then immediately go ‘Let’s go.’ A team wants me to play for them, they went out of their way to come get me. I was pretty stoked.”

The Twins evidently were patient in making the deal as they had, from what Gasper was told by new Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll, who replaced Thad Levine in November, targeted him as someone they wanted to acquire a week earlier.

“When (Zoll) called me he said they almost got me the week before, but it kind of fell through,” Gasper said. “But I guess they picked talks back up a week later, were spitballing something else, and my name ended up getting put back in there. It seemed like the Twins wanted me and did the work to get me on their club.”

Gasper’s versatility likely made him desirable. Known originally as a catcher, he can play first — the Yankees drafted him in 2018 as a first baseman — as well as second and the outfield, or DH. He played first and second with the Red Sox in his 13-game stint with Boston. Gasper was called up by the Red Sox on Aug. 12 last year, his first and only one with the organization, after hitting over .400 at Triple A Worcester.

“Carrying three catchers doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in today’s game,” Gasper said, “unless they know that third catcher can play a different position.”

“I really haven’t heard, they didn’t tell me about why they liked me,” Gasper said. “The way I play, similar reasons why the Red Sox liked me. The GM told me to bring all my gloves.

“I’m bringing all three, I’m going in there with pitchers and catchers, and I’m going to take ground balls every day along with catching. I’m going to do whatever I can to make that Opening Day roster.”

Gasper will miss playing at Fenway, saying “It’s like heaven.” He played against the Twins in spring training last year. He played vs. the Twins’ Triple A club in St. Paul in 2023 “so I got of feeling for the cold in April in Minnesota.

“It’s a pretty fresh start, similar to when I got to the Red Sox. I’m going in there to make a great first impression, be a great teammate and help the Minnesota Twins win. There’s a lot of talent there. … Guys that are really, really good. I don’t want to speak for how the team is feeling but I know it’s a winning culture and I’m sure not making the playoffs last year left a bad taste in their mouths.

“I’m hungry and I have a bad taste my mouth from last year too (no hits in his 13 MLB games). I have a lot to prove. I want to help them win and get to learn from guys like Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa, get to catch Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack, there’s a lot of veteran presence there to learn from.”