There is no doubt that the Red Sox are making Andrew Benintendi available for potential negotiations. The likelihood that they will negotiate with him and what they can seek in return is less clear.
Executives from three teams who discussed the 26-year-old outfielder with the Red Sox had three different impressions. Someone thought that the Sox were just evaluating their value, without necessarily committing themselves to trading it; someone thought that the Red Soxes were actively looking to change it; and a thought that the discussions fell somewhere in between.
Regardless of where things fall, however, the Red Sox are active in discussions with various teams. Athletic reported that the Marlins faced the Sox, but suggested that the sides were not aligned. Boston Sports Journal quoted an industry source who believed that a deal with Miami “was not happening”, but cited Rangers, Astros and Athletics as teams that signed up.
Front offices around baseball find it challenging to define the value of Benintendi. Although his 2020 season was terrible – an average of 0.103, a percentage of 0.314 and 0.128 on the stroke mark in 14 games before a rib injury at the end of the season – many are willing to look beyond that, as several hitters around the game he struggled a lot after the short summer training camp.
Even so, the evaluators still find it necessary to make sense of Benintendi’s 2019 campaign, in which he hit 0.266 / 0.343 / 0.431 with 13 home runs, 10 steals and a strikeout rate of 22.8%, a drop from at 0.290 /. 366 / .465 line with 16 homers, 21 steals and a 16.0 percent elimination rate in 2018.
That said, between a difficult start to the 2019 season (exacerbated by a succession of bad balls in his right leg) and a difficult end (exacerbated by an oblique injury), he hit 0.286 / 0.362 / 0.476 in 117- game goes from the end from April to the end of August. Benintendi also noticed increases in exit speed and frequency of strong contact that season.
The breadth of possibilities for Benintendi is a mystery throughout the industry, including for the Red Sox – which would certainly limit its commercial value. Several rival appraisers have expressed surprise that the Red Sox is exploring businesses at a time when its value is at a low point.
Still, Benintendi is young enough – and not so far from excellence – to believe in the possibility of a recovery. His $ 6.4 million salary, the second year of a two-year, $ 10 million business, remains relatively affordable, and he has two years of team control before becoming eligible for a free agency after the 2022 season.
One team discussed exchanging the depth of the pitch for the big league for Benintendi. It is certainly possible that the Sox, who were open about the need to update their rotation, would negotiate by starting pitching instead of acquiring it through a free agency, where the pitching market is more active and expensive than the pitch market. position players.
In this scenario, the Sox could negotiate Benintendi to shoot, so perhaps hiring a free corner defender – Marcell Ozuna, Michael Brantley and Joc Pederson are still available – in addition to looking for a central defender.
In conversations with other teams, the Sox showed willingness, if they negotiated with Benintendi, to consider pitchers or position players, talents ready for the major league or players who are further away, or to explore extended negotiations.
Certainly, Sox can determine that Benintendi’s advantage over the next two years is more valuable than anything that is offered in the commercial market. But it shouldn’t be a surprise if it is attended to – a reality that is, in itself, surprising, given its place as an organizational building block in 2018.
Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter at @alexspeier.