Should The Red Sox Trade Andrew Benintendi?

Off-season intrigue is ramping up!

Happier days…

Yesterday Jim Bowden of The Athletic tweeted the Red Sox were engaged in “serious trade talks” regarding left fielder Andrew Benintendi. Bowden didn’t mention which teams Boston was talking to, or who else they were talking about, but @RedSoxStats on twitter speculated Boston could get someone like Ender Inciarte from the Braves and a “very good” prospect in return for their left fielder. Inciarte has never been a great hitter - his last two seasons have been pretty bad at the plate, a bit worse than Benintendi even - but he can play center field, and he has hit a little bit (roughly league average) in the not so distant past. Adding Inciarte would move the hole in Boston’s outfield from center to left without adding salary (their salaries are comparable). It’s much easier to find a left fielder who can hit then it is a center fielder who can hold down the position. Then throw in that “very good” prospect and you have the makings of a pretty good trade for Boston.

So that’s an interesting package. Inciarte doesn’t have the upside that Benintendi once possessed, but I’m not sure Benintendi has the upside that Benintendi once possessed, either. Benintendi’s decreasing footspeed forces him to play only in the outfield corners, and his lack of arm strength further forces him to play only left field. That would be fine if not ideal if he were hitting and could play an above average left field, but neither of those has been the case for a few seasons.

I still like Benintendi going forward, as I wrote here in December. There are things in Benintendi’s player profile that don’t look great, things that have gone in the wrong direction, but ultimately I don’t put quite as much stock in those things as maybe some other people do. The reason is 2020 was a crazy season in which Benintendi barely participated. His 2019 season wasn’t what we were hoping for, but it was basically league average, which isn’t bad for a down season. Also, and maybe most importantly, he’s a former top prospect who has had recent success at the major league level and will be just 26 years old this season. But if you can get a good prospect and a starting player for him, well, maybe it’s worth doing.

The other factor to consider here is Benintendi’s service time. The 2021 season will be his second year in arbitration. Next season, 2022, will be his last, and then he’ll be a free agent. Given the way he’s performed over the past few seasons the Red Sox certainly aren’t interested in locking him up long term, so we’re looking at a short term asset who is likely to hit the market in two seasons either due to the uncertainty surrounding his performance if he hits well or because he’s not worth having on the roster if he doesn’t.

Turning Benintendi into a starting position player and a good prospect is an intriguing thought, whether that’s through the Braves or another team. The Red Sox are rather short on both at the moment. What I don’t want is to trade Benintendi for prospects. The Red Sox are supposed to compete in 2021 and I think they have a shot if they actually attempt to put a good team on the field (fingers crossed!). That good team could include Benintendi or not, but if it doesn’t, it won’t be helped by the prospects Boston got in return for dealing their starting left fielder.

To answer the question posed by the title of this piece, it depends. If we’re talking a deal strictly for prospects, I say no. There’s real bounce back potential in Benintendi for 2021. He’s a potential above average player on a roster preciously short on those. But, if the deal improves the major league roster (or doesn’t make it appreciably worse) in addition to adding needed minor league talent, well, then I’m listening. It seems like the Red Sox may be in that same boat as well.

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What do you think? Should the Red Sox hold on to Benintendi, banking on a bounce back? Or should they get what they can on the trade market while the get’n is still good?