Yankees acquire All-Star OF Andrew Benintendi from Royals

Yankees Acquire All-Star OF Andrew Benintendi from Royals

The New York Yankees have acquired All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for three prospects, YES Network‘s Yankees insider Jack Curry and ESPN‘s Jeff Passan were first to report on the deal Wednesday night.

Yankees are acquiring Benintendi.

— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES) July 28, 2022

The New York Yankees are finalizing a deal to acquire outfielder Andrew Benintendi from Kansas City, sources tell ESPN. Three minor leaguers will be headed back to the Royals.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2022

According to The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal, the prospects heading back to the deal are all pitchers. LHP TJ Sikkema and RHP Beck Way — their No. 19 and 21 prospects, respectively (according to MLB Pipeline) — and Chandler Champlain, who isn’t listed as a top-30 prospect. Sikkema and Way were the No. 18 and 26 prospects in the system, according to FanGraphs.

The team made it official shortly after the acquisition.

The New York Yankees today announced that they have acquired OF Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for minor leaguers RHP Chandler Champlain, LHP T.J. Sikkema and RHP Beck Way.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 28, 2022

A contentious talking point surrounding Benintendi’s market was his vaccination status, as he was not eligible to play the four-game set in Toronto for a four-game series before the All-Star break.

That’s even more important to point out since the Yankees and Blue Jays are both in the AL East. Nevertheless, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, Benintendi’s told others that he will receive the vaccination. The Yankees have one more series in Toronto — their penultimate road series of their 162-game regular season, from Sept. 26-28.

Word is, Benintendi has told folks he will get the vaccination. Trade is final, so Yankees must believe he will.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 28, 2022

He’s not Juan Soto, but Benintendi (who’s having a career year) is a good addition to the Yankees lineup that has gotten subpar from left field — namely from Joey Gallo, who’s having a disastrous second season in New York. Here’s what I said about acquiring an outfield bat when I examined the needs of AL contenders last week.

“…If the Yankees could find a more suitable left-handed bat to slot into either corner outfield spot, their lineup — which is already the most potent in baseball — becomes that much deadlier and deeper.”

Check out the full excerpt here.

2022 MLB Trade Deadline: Examining needs for potential AL Buyers

Benintendi was named to the All-Star team for the first time this season. He entered Wednesday sporting a .321/.389/.399 slash line — equating a .788 OPS and 124 OPS+, all of which are career marks. He’s only hit three homers, but he’s driven in 39 RBIs, in addition to recording 14 doubles, two triples, 39 walks (10.1 BB%) and 52 strikeouts (13.5 K%). He ranks in the 89th percentile in xBA (.279), 92nd in K-rate, 83rd in chase rate (22.6%) and 78th in whiff rate (19.8%), per Baseball Savant.

He’s never been a big power bat, sporting a career .152 ISO (isolated power) with an 89 ISO+ (11 percentage points below league average over that span). But playing in Yankee Stadium (as a left-handed hitter) as opposed to Kauffman Stadium or Fenway Park, where he’s formerly played roughly half his games, should help his power numbers.

But he ultimately won’t *need* to be a power bat surrounded by plenty of other big boppers in the lineup. And perhaps the least-talked about part of his game is his defense — Benintendi’s a good defender in left field (like Gallo) with a solid arm. Since the start of 2019, he’s T-8 amongst 37 left fielders (min. 1000 LF innings) in defensive runs saved (7) and T-6 in ultimate zone rating per 150 games, which is another metric for how many runs above/below average a fielder is per 150 games. He won the Gold Glove last year, too.

Here is the presumptive healthy Yankees lineup.

1. DJ LeMahieu, 3B
2. Aaron Judge, CF
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton, RF/DH
5. Matt Carpenter, DH/RF
6. Gleyber Torres, 2B
7. Andrew Benintendi, LF
8. Jose Trevino, C
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS

Now they turn their focus to land at least one other arm. Current Cincinnati Reds ace Luis Castillo has been a popular candidate — and it’s warranted. Here is what Curry mentioned Wednesday regarding Castillo, who sports a 2.86 ERA, 3.20 FIP, and 25.8 K% in 85.0 innings.

“The one quote that [Yankees general manager Brian Cashman] says repeatedly about his job is it’s his job is to make the team better. And I think we know, from a pitching perspective, that’s where the Yankees would like to make themselves better. I think [Luis Castillo] would be the next logical move. The Yankees have been tied to him, and we know they’ve had discussions for him. We also know that the price tag is going to be a lot heavier for him. So what would the Yankees be willing to give up that would allow them to pry Castillo from the Reds? That’s what we’re going to be following over the next few days.”

What other trades might be on the horizon for the Yankees?@JackCurryYES: I think Luis Castillo would be the next logical move. pic.twitter.com/3d8YaVtzfS

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 28, 2022

Aaron Boone discusses what the addition of Andrew Benintendi could bring to the Yankees lineup. pic.twitter.com/iSXKSskipT

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 28, 2022

"Adding a guy like that will definitely give us a little pump-up, that's for sure."

Aaron Judge reacts to reports of Andrew Benintendi joining the Yankees. pic.twitter.com/T2gTzTcp20

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 28, 2022

BREAKING: The Yankees are acquiring Andrew Benintendi from the Royals, @JackCurryYES reports. pic.twitter.com/pBr36NOP0j

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 28, 2022

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