The trade: The Yankees acquire LF Andrew Benintendi from the Royals for pitching prospects T.J. Sikkema, Chandler Champlain and Beck Way.
Less than a week before the 2022 trade deadline, the Yankees landed one of the buzziest names on the market in outfielder Andrew Benintendi, a former archrival with the Boston Red Sox who now lands in the Bronx after a one-and-a-half-season stay with the Royals. Kansas City has been out of contention for weeks, and with Benintendi working under an expiring contract, the Royals land a trio of pitching prospects for a player they almost certainly weren't going to sign after the season.
Let's grade this thing.
All season, the Yankees have been an outfield bat short, despite an offense that overall has been dazzling at the plate and in the field. The fly in the ointment has been Joey Gallo, who was one of the Yankees' deadline pickups last season. Gallo's pull-heavy, power bat seemed like it could be a good fit for the Bronx -- but no venue is really a good fit for a swing that so infrequently produces contact. In 138 games as a Yankee, Gallo has produced a .160 average, 25 homers and 191 strikeouts.
On Tuesday night against the Mets, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone sent Gallo to the plate in a key spot, with New York down two with a runner on in the eighth. Against Edwin Diaz, Gallo (predictably) struck out -- and while plenty of hitters have struck out recently against Diaz, there was something futile in watching Gallo flail away. A friend texted me the question, "If Diaz faced Gallo 100 times, how many times would he strike out?"
The answer: A lot.
Adding Benintendi accomplishes a number of objectives for the Yankees. It keeps him away from their rivals, such as the Blue Jays, who were reportedly interested. It means playing Gallo less frequently. He strengthens the outfield defense and even has enough chops with the glove to chip in at center field. And Benintendi's batting-average-driven style at the plate will help balance the Yankees' attack and set the table for Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and New York's other boppers to drive him home.
The Benintendi the Yankees are getting is different from the one who was one of the game's top prospects during his early days with the Red Sox. He's spent much of his time in Kansas City trying to recapture that swing, looking to use more of the field and be less pull-heavy. More or less, he's accomplished those things this season by upping his line drive rate, hitting more to center and left field and drastically cutting his fly-ball and strikeout rates. He's been a one-man counterfactual to the launch angle revolution.
The end result is an almost entirely different hitter, one who hasn't produced much power but draws walks and hits for average. Benintendi has a chance this season to resurrect a seemingly extinct species: the everyday player who gets on base 40% of the time while producing a sub.-400 slugging percentage. Ironically, moving to Yankee Stadium might kill that latter metric, as he might get a few more balls into the seats. Regardless, chances are Benintendi has learned his lesson about trying to launch and pull, and will likely continue his contact-heavy, all-field approach.
Though Benintendi-to-the-Yankees has been among the trade season's most talked-about rumors, it was put in doubt recently when Benintendi was one of 10 Royals players placed on the restricted list before Kansas City traveled to Toronto because, as an unvaccinated person, he could not enter Canada. The Yankees have one more trip to Toronto left on their regular-season docket, but more importantly, it's possible New York might run into the Blue Jays during the playoffs. Because of this, there was some question about whether any of the AL East contenders would be willing to spring for Benintendi.
The Yankees traded for Benintendi, so they were obviously either unconcerned about his ability to play in Canada, or are convinced that the "personal decision" he's alluded to will now guide him toward getting the shot. Since the Blue Jays were also reportedly among his suitors, seems like the latter scenario is the more likely. From a baseball and trade-grade standpoint, that renders his vax status as irrelevant. If you're a fan of the Royals -- or public health -- you might see that differently.
Grade: B+
Despite ending the Benintendi era on a sour note with that Toronto debacle, the Royals have to be pleased with this return. Last year, they shipped Franchy Cordero to Boston and Khalil Lee to the Mets as part of the three-team deal that brought back Benintendi, who turned out to be an All-Star-level contributor (except in Canada). Now, with his contract running out, Kansas City was able to flip him for three pitching prospects. They tried to win with Benintendi and failed, but they recovered to spin his value forward. It's what you want to do.
According to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, the plum of this deal is right-hander Beck Way, a fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2020. According to Baseball America, Way features a four-seamer that works in the 92-94 miles per hour range and reaches 97. He supports that with a quality changeup and a developing slider. McDaniel sees him as possibly a mid-rotation starter. This season at High-A, Way has a 3.73 ERA over 15 starts with 10 strikeouts per nine innings.
T.J. Sikkema is a lefty out of Missouri who will now hope to break into the majors with a team that plays two hours from his college venue. He throws with decent velocity but mostly features command and deception with a three-quarters arm slot, per Baseball America. His numbers for the Yankees' High-A squad have been better than those of Way this season.
Righty Chandler Champlain was a ninth-round pick by the Yankees out of Southern Cal last year. This season, he's flashed a sparkly strikeout rate but has also given up enough homers to suggest maybe he's spending a little too much time around the center of the plate. Unranked by Baseball America among New York's top 30 before the campaign, he made his way into the back of their rankings during the season.
It's a perfectly fine haul for a good player like Benintendi who is not really a cornerstone talent and whom you weren't going to sign anyway. The only question is whether the Royals could have fared better by holding on to Benintendi, hoping to extract a premium prospect from someone as the deadline clock ticked down. Right now, it's hard to ding them for that -- but perhaps we'll re-grade if we see players similar but inferior to Benintendi moved for greater return.