KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KSNT) – The Kansas City Royals traded Wednesday for Andrew Benintendi in a three-way team deal with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Royals traded for former Red Sox outfielder Benintendi, sending Khalil Lee to the Mets and Franchy Cordero to the Red Sox for the package deal.
Coming off his worst year in 2020, Benintendi will be a risk worth the price. The Royals were in need of a left-handed bat who has a healthy mix of speed and power at the plate. In the field, he is a good substitute for the recently retired left field legend, Alex Gordon. Benintendi is infamous for the diving plays that look effortless out in the left portion of the field.
Benintendi has spent his entire career with the Red Sox and has won a World Series ring with the club that drafted him. He joins a potential starting lineup with Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez, Hunter Dozier, Carlos Santana, Adalberto Mondesi and others.
In his career, he’s hit 51 home runs, drove in 260 runs and has a .273 batting average. He’s been selected to multiple All-Star Games in his career as well.
According to the report, Benintendi is set to make $6.6 million in 2021 and will be in arbitration in 2022.