Andrew Benintendi, a native of Cincinnati and current outsider of the Boston Red Sox, is reportedly in the commercial market according former Reds general manager Jim Bowden of The Athletic.
Originally selected by Cincinnati outside Madeira High School in the 31st round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft, Andrew Benintendi chose to go to college and play for Arkansas. Two years later, he was selected in 7th overall by the Red Sox and was in the major leagues a year later, playing 34 games in the major leagues with .295 / .359 / .476 hits. He was a full-time starter the following year and has been in every season since.
From 2016-2019, it reached 0.277 / 0.354 / 0.442, good for 109 OPS +. But in 2020 he played only 14 games and fought hard when he was on the field, reaching just 0.103 / 0.314 / 0.128. He lost most of the year, after forcing his rib cage in early August.
Andrew Benintendi turns 26 in the 2021 season and owes $ 6,600,000. He will be eligible for arbitration in 2022 and must be linked to the free agency after that season, unless he spends a lot of time in the minor leagues before the end of the 2022 season.
So, back to the question of the day: should the Cincinnati Reds try to negotiate with Andrew Benintendi? It depends on many things. Without other moves, it is a very difficult sale, given that the external field already has doubts about who will play, especially if the National League will not have the hitter designated in 2021.
In addition to just playing time, we saw the organization apparently involved in negotiating rumors that involve anyone on the list who seems negotiable and who also earns any real amount of money – a sign that, along with Raisel Iglesias and Archie trading non-competitor Bradley (among others) indicates that the team is looking to spend much less money than last season. Picking up your eleven billion outfielder, who is not making a lot of money but is also not earning the league minimum, may be a bit much for the front office.
If the team, however, can find some creative ways to move a current outfielder into another deal that would open up a lineup line and, from their perspective, also free up some money to pay Andrew Benitendi, then things can make a lot more sense.
At his best, Andrew Benintendi was an All-Star caliber. In 2018 he put 4.5 WAR for the Red Sox. Among the current Redfield outfielders, no one was even remotely close to that in any season they had in the major leagues, with Nick Castellanos getting closer with a 2.9 WAR season in 2018. If Benintendi is at his best, he will likely have a upgrade anyone that Cincinnati could send to the foreign field.
It is possible that the team will try to be creative with Nick Senzel in order to open up some additional strikes for Benintendi if he is acquired. Senzel’s experience in third and second base could get him to play a little there, but that would also mean that you would take Eugenio Suárez or Mike Moustakas out of the lineup, and that is also difficult to sell.
Nothing is impossible. But if the Cincinnati Reds acquired Andrew Benintendi, it would almost have to be part of a bigger plan, which would involve changing someone else in order to make time for someone else to play elsewhere. Perhaps an exchange to acquire it could even involve such a player going to Boston.