A former well-liked Red Sox outfielder could end up back in the American League East by the time the Aug. 2 trade deadline rolls around.
The Blue Jays are among the teams interested in acquiring Andrew Benintendi from the Royals, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Morosi speculates that Toronto might also have some interest in Kansas City’s available bullpen arms.
The Royals, who at 27-47 sit in last place in the AL Central, have already begun selling ahead of the deadline. They shipped first baseman Carlos Santana to the Mariners in exchange for righties Wyatt Mills and William Flemming on Monday. Benintendi, who is a free agent after the season, is a logical candidate to get dealt as well. The soon-to-be 28-year-old has played pretty well in 2022, hitting .303 with three homers, 27 RBIs and a .760 OPS in 72 games. He’s expected to be one of the top available rental outfielders available on the trade market.
The Jays, like the rest of their AL East counterparts, are expected to stock up ahead of the deadline. The Yankees currently lead the division by 13 games and could look to make minor tweaks before Aug. 2; the Jays, Red Sox and Rays are all expected to be aggressive in trade talks. Though the Red Sox could use an outfielder due to the struggles of outfielder Kiké Hernández and Jackie Bradley Jr., Benintendi is probably too similar of a player to Alex Verdugo for a reunion to make sense. The emergence of Triple-A call-ups Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran might allow chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to plug the club’s outfield holes internally instead of making a deal.
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