Red Sox Trade Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City Royals in 3-Way Trade

With Red Sox pitchers set to report to Spring Training on February 17th and the 1st full squad workout on February 22nd, the Boston Red Sox have traded outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals in a 3-way trade.

The Red Sox will receive outfielder Franchy Cordero and 2 players to be named later. Additionally, the Red Sox received minor league right-handed pitcher Josh Winckowski and a player to be named later from the New York Mets.

Benintendi was injured most of the 2020 pandemic shortened season. He  played in 485 games with the Red Sox from 2016-20, batting .273 (502-for-1,837) with 51 home runs, 53 stolen bases, and a .789 OPS. He served as the club’s Opening Day starter in left field in each of the last four seasons (2017-20), and in those four years he led the major leagues with 32 outfield assists. Selected by Boston in the first round of the 2015 June Draft (No. 7 overall), Benintendi finished 2nd in 2017 American League Rookie of the Year voting. He appeared in all 14 of the Red Sox’ Postseason games in 2018, leading all players with 15 runs scored. His game-ending catch against the Houston Astros in Game 4 of the ALCS was voted by the Associated Press as the Play of the Year across all sports

Cordero is 26 years old and has appeared in 95 major league games with the San Diego Padres (2017-19) and Royals (2020), batting .236 (67-for-284) with 12 home runs and a .737 OPS. The left-handed hitter has made 38 starts in center field, 24 in left field, and nine in right field, totaling 4 outfield assists in his major league career. Originally signed by San Diego in 2011, the Dominican native made Opening Day rosters with the Padres in 2019 and with the Royals in 2020. Last year, he was traded to Kansas City on July 16 but missed a majority of the season on the injured list with a sprained right wrist, going 8-for-38 (.211) with two home runs in 16 games.

Winckowski  is 22, and was ranked by Baseball America as the Mets’ No. 20 prospect. Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15^th round of the 2016 June Draft, the right-hander spent his first 5 seasons in Toronto’s minor league system before being traded to the Mets on January 27, 2021. In 54 career appearances (50 starts), he is 18-17 with a 3.35 ERA (98 ER/263.0 IP) and 237 strikeouts, reaching the High-A level in 2019 with Dunedin. After posting a 5.19 ERA (39 ER/67.2 IP) in his first two seasons (2016-17), Winckowski recorded a 2.72 ERA (59 ER/195.1 IP) from 2018-19. A two-time league All-Star (2018, ’19), he was named Northwest League Pitcher of the Year in 2018.

You can hear 31 Spring Training games on 101.9 The Rock beginning on Saturday, February 27th, and all 162 regular season games, starting with Opening Day on April 1st.