The Boston Red Sox continued the fire sale of their key players on Wednesday, trading away outfielder Andrew Benintendi in a three-team trade that also included the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets.
According to the team’s official announcement, Boston sent Benintendi and cash consideration to the Royals while receiving OF Franchy Cordero and two players to be named later. As part of the trade, the Red Sox will also get pitcher Josh Winckowski and a player to be named later from the NY Mets, who will in return welcome prospect Khalil Lee from Kansas City.
Benintendi made his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 2016 and went on to become an integral part of the team that won the World Series in 2018. During the team’s championship run, he led all players with 15 runs in the playoffs while batting .333 in the World Series and contributing with one RBI.
Throughout his career in majors, Benintendi batted .273 while adding 51 home runs and 260 RBIs.
With Andrew Benintendi out of Boston, the Red Sox have now witnessed the exit of all three key outfielders that brought them a championship three years ago. They traded 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts last year, and All-Star Jackie Bradley is a free agent.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom acknowledged that it must be tough for their fans to see all these players go.
“I know it’s tough, I know it’s painful,” said Bloom. “Those memories aren’t going anywhere, that banner isn’t going anywhere.”
