The Red Sox have traded Andrew Benintendi to the Royals in a three-way deal involving the Mets. The Sox will be getting back outfielder Franchy Cordero from Kansas City, along with minor-league pitcher Josh Winckowski (who comes from the Mets). The Sox, who are sending cash considerations, will also receive three players to be named later, two from Kansas City and one via the Mets.
The Red Sox had been asking for both Cordero and outfield prospect Khalil Lee, who is headed to the Mets.
"You guys have heard me say it more than once, that last year going into the year I was optimistic about Andrew, and still am," said Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom late Wednesday night. " With this type of move, a lot of this is about considering opportunities wherever they may come from to better address what we need to address long-term to add depth and talent to the organization. In this deal we felt we were able to do that in multiple ways, obviously getting quite a few minor league players and also getting Franchy Cordero, who can step into the big league level and certainly has battled some injuries, but whose upside and whose talent is as good as anybody on the field whenever he's on it and who we're optimistic can be a big part of this thing. We felt we were able to address a number of needs. It puts us on good enough footing going forward that it was worth swallowing hard and taking that painful step of trading a player who's really important to us and very talented."
Cordero is viewed as a power-hitting outfielder with decent defensive skills and a strong arm. The 26-year-old did battle a wrist injury with the Royals, who acquired Cordero last July from San Diego for pitcher Tim Hill.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound lefty hitter played in 16 games for Kansas City last season, going 8-for-38 (.211) with two homers. For his major league career Cordero has hit .236 in 95 games, totaling 12 homers and a .737 OPS.
Benintendi is owned $6.6 million in 2021 before heading into his final year of arbitration-eligibility the following season.
"I think just being a left-handed hitting outfielder as far as how the club is configured he’s a very different type of player from Benny but I think he can step right into that role," Bloom said. "Obviously we need to get to know him in all ways and just see exactly the role he can play. 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. The exact role when he plays, how he’s used, that’s something as we get to know him Alex is going to figure out what works best for the club but we know he’s capable of playing all over the outfield and really impacting the baseball."
“We didn’t get a chance to see Franchy Cordero like we expected and like we hoped,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore told the Kansas City Star prior to the 2020 season. “... There’s a lot of ability there, always has been. We’ve had our eye on him for really the last three years.
“We tried to work deals to get him here in Kansas City. We were able to make that happen finally. There’s a lot of potential in him for a lot of reasons.”
The 22-year-old Winckowski hasn't pitched above SIngle-A, having started 50 of his 54 minor-league outings.
"This was someone we had been following," Bloom said of Winckowski. "He was recently traded, part of the Steven Matz deal. He’s interesting. This is a big, physical kid who has a developing repertoire. He’s been primarily a fastball-slider, but he has a couple different fastballs. He’s had a changeup in the past during instructional league. This year he’s working on a splitter, which showed some promise. Velo-wise, he’s gotten it up there to the high-90s at times. He’s worked as a starter. We want to get our arms around him, get to know him, but this is a type of guy who there is a lot of different ways his career can go. He’s not a finished product yet. But he has a really good chance to impact the major league staff in some capacity."
More to come ...