Red Sox finally trading Andrew Benintendi in 3-team deal with Royals and Mets

The Boston Red Sox have traded outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals after weeks of trade speculation.

Over three years ago, Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi finished in second for AL Rookie of the Year. But this offseason, the Red Sox front office was looking to ship their outfielder to another squad with the purpose of getting a package of prospects. After nearly a month, the move has finally been made.

The Kansas City Royals are acquiring Benintendi from the Red Sox in a three team trade involving the New York Mets. The Red Sox will be acquiring outfielder Franchy Cordero and two players to be named later from the Royals, and pitching prospect Josh Winckowski and a player to be named later from the Mets. New York will receive outfield prospect Khalil Lee from the Royals. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the finalized trade.

MLB insider Jon Heyman was the first with the news of Benintendi’s trade to Kansas City and Boston’s acquisition of Winckowski. FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray was first on the Mets’ involvement in the deal. Passan was first with Cordero going to Boston and Lee going to New York.

Benintendi getting a shot with the Royals

Benintendi is coming off a down 2020 campaign, where he was limited to just 14 games due to a strained rib cage. In that limited frame, the outfielder slashed .103/.314/.128 with four hits, four runs scored and one RBI. Back in 2019, Benintendi recorded a .266 batting average and .774 OPS while accumulating 13 home runs and 68 RBI in 138 games.

Now, Benintendi will slot into a Kansas City outfield consisting of Edward Olivares and Whitt Merrifield.

As for Cordero, the 26-year-old played just one season with the Royals after being acquired from the San Diego Padres. Coredro only played 16 games with Kansas City due to a wrist injury. Overall, Cordero slashed .211/.286/.447 with two home runs and seven RBI.

The Mets recently acquired Winckowski from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Steven Matz trade. Prior to the announcement of the Benintendi trade, Winckowski ranked 26th in the Mets farm system. In 2019 (his last time pitching), the right-hander recorded a .269 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in 127.1 innings of work (24 games).

Lee was Kansas City’s eighth-ranked prospect in the pipeline. The outfielder is highly-regarded for his hitting abilities and for his speed once he gets on base. In 2019 with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Lee slashed .264/.363/.372 with eight home runs, 51 RBI, 53 stolen bases, 74 runs scored and 124 hits in 129 games.

Kansas City takes a chance on Benintendi in hopes that he can bounce back from a rather dreadful 2020 campaign, the Mets get a stout outfield prospect who could debut as soon as this upcoming season, while Boston continues to add to their farm system.