The New York Yankees moved aggressively Wednesday night, acquiring outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for three pitching prospects (T.J. Sikkema, Beck Way and Chandler Champlain).
The trade obviously boosts the Yankees in the short term, giving the American League East leaders a good contact hitter with solid on-base skills, while the Royals receive some long-term upside for a player who probably would’ve left in free agency this offseason, anyway.
Seems like a win-win, right?
Well, ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle evidently feels that way, as well, giving both the Yankees and Royals positive marks for Wednesday’s trade.
ESPN’s grade for Yankees: B+
ESPN’s grade for Royals: B
Benintendi arrives in the Bronx slashing .320/.387/.398 with three home runs, 39 RBIs and four stolen bases in 93 games (390 plate appearances) with KC in 2022. The 28-year-old hasn’t exactly been the game-changing talent the Royals hoped they were getting when they acquired him from the Boston Red Sox before the 2021 campaign, but he won a Gold Glove last season and earned his first career All-Star selection this season. He’s become an all-fields, line-drive hitter who might even flash a little more power down the stretch while playing his home games at Yankee Stadium.
“Adding Benintendi accomplishes a number of objectives for the Yankees,” Doolittle wrote Thursday. “It keeps him away from their rivals, such as the Blue Jays, who were reportedly interested. It means playing (Joey) Gallo less frequently. He strengthens the outfield defense and even has enough chops with the glove to chip in at center field. And Benintendi’s batting-average-driven style at the plate will help balance the Yankees’ attack and set the table for Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and New York’s other boppers to drive him home.”
The Royals really can’t complain about the return package, as Benintendi increased his value this season while the market seemingly evolved in Kansas City’s favor. They traded Franchy Cordero to the Red Sox and Khalil Lee to the New York Mets to obtain Benintendi in February 2021, and now end up with three hurlers who could factor into their rotation and/or bullpen plans down the road.
“It’s a perfectly fine haul for a good player like Benintendi who is not really a cornerstone talent and whom you weren’t going to sign anyway,” Doolittle wrote. “The only question is whether the Royals could have fared better by holding on to Benintendi, hoping to extract a premium prospect from someone as the deadline clock ticked down. Right now, it’s hard to ding them for that — but perhaps we’ll re-grade if we see players similar but inferior to Benintendi moved for greater return.”
The Major League Baseball trade deadline is Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. ET. Don’t be surprised if the Yankees add more pieces in the coming days as they eye their first World Series title since 2009.
