What To Know About Newest Red Sox Franchy Cordero After Andrew Benintendi Trade

Franchy Cordero is the newest member of the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox acquired Cordero from the Kansas City Royals, minor league right-hander Josh Winckowski from the New York Mets and additional players yet to be named in return for outfielder Andrew Benintendi.

Benintendi was sent to Kansas City in the three-team transaction.

“He is not (as) established (as Benintendi),” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters late Wednesday night of Cordero, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Bloom further explained that was due to “freak injuries,” but that Boston sees an “untapped upside” in the 26-year-old outfielder, according to Speier.

“Obviously, we need to get to know him in all ways and just see exactly the role he can play,” Bloom said, per The Athletic. “But historically he’s been a guy who can play all three outfield positions, who brings a power bat from the left side, hits the ball about as hard as anybody in the big leagues and so he should be able to fit in terms of how our roster functions very similarly.”

Cordero has played just 95 games in the big leagues. During that span, the Dominican Republic native recorded a .236 batting average with a .304 on-base percentage and .433 slugging percentage. He’s hit 12 homers, 12 doubles, four triples with 36 RBIs in 315 plate appearances.

Cordero played 16 games during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season in Kansas City. That was after he spent his first three MLB seasons with the San Diego Padres.

The 26-year-old has not played more than 40 games in a season, which came in 2018. He batted .237 with 33 hits, 19 RBIs, 19 runs and seven home runs. He did, however, strikeout 55 times in those 154 plate appearances.

Cordero is set to earn $800,000 in 2021 and is under team control through 2023. He has played 344-plus innings in center field and 207-plus innings in left field.