The Royals announced tonight they have acquired outfielder
Andrew Benintendi and cash considerations from Boston in a three-team trade
that sends outfielder Franchy Cordero and two players to be named to the Red
Sox and outfielder Khalil Lee to the New York Mets, who acquired minor league
right-handed pitcher Josh Winckowski and either a player to be named later or
cash considerations from Boston.
Benintendi, 26, has spent his entire Major League career with the Red Sox. He
was limited to 14 games in 2020 due to a right rib cage strain, but managed
to draw 11 walks, which led the club through games of Aug. 11. In his last
full season with the Sox, he slashed .266/.343/.431 (144-for-541), ranking
tied for fifth in the American League with 40 doubles. The left-handed hitter
was also fifth in the Majors, batting .326 (60-for-184) with two outs and
tied for sixth with 44 two-out RBI. Defensively, he recorded nine outfield
assists, which tied for sixth in the AL overall and ranked third among all
left fielders.
Benintendi entered 2017 as Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect, and finished
second in AL Rookie of the Year voting to Aaron Judge. He leads the Majors
with 32 outfield assists since ‘17, which included a career-high 12 in 2018,
tying for the MLB lead. Benintendi has been Boston’s Opening Day left fielder
in each of the last four seasons (2017-20), becoming the first Red Sox player
to do that at age 26 or younger since Carl Yastrzemski (6 times, 1961-66). He
recorded four hits and scored three runs in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series
vs. the Dodgers, becoming the first player in Major League history to
accomplish that in his first World Series game.
