Trade Rumor: Brewers vying for OF Andrew Benintendi

[Brock Beauchamp]

Heyman reports the Crew is interested in Benintendi, which makes all the sense in the world.

The Brewers (and other NL teams) have a big leg up on acquiring Benintendi from the Royals, as he is unvaccinated. That basically excludes any AL team from aggressively pursuing him, as any matchup with Toronto takes Benintendi off the roster. It's hard to see an AL team that expects a postseason berth to pay for a guy who might write himself off the roster in the first or second round of the postseason.

Benintendi is a free agent at the end of the season and has a 127 wRC+. And maybe most importantly, an OPS approaching .400. He'd be a huge addition to a Brewers lineup that is plenty deep with power but often struggles to drive in more than one runner at a time with that power.

View full trade rumor

[wibadgers23]

Yes, go get him and Josh Bell and all of a sudden I’m feeling pretty good about the offense. Go get a reliever and call it good.

[Brewcrew82]

I know some people on here are not the biggest fans of Benintendi. However, I believe that he would be a great antidote for what ails this offense; namely, a lack of contact and situational hitting. Also, he gets on base at a really good rate and plays solid corner outfield defense. Basically, it would eliminate the need to ever have to play McCutchen in the outfield again and enable us to DH him less against RHP. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

15 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I know some people on here are not the biggest fans of Benintendi. However, I believe that he would be a great antidote for what ails this offense; namely, a lack of contact and situational hitting. Also, he gets on base at a really good rate and plays solid corner outfield defense. Basically, it would eliminate the need to ever have to play McCutchen in the outfield again and enable us to DH him less against RHP. 

This is my thinking as well. Benintendi isn't a perfect option because he's not a natural centerfielder but his bat plays into almost exactly what the Brewers need right now.

[BruisedCrew]

Who would Benintendi  replace in the everyday lineup if everyone is healthy? 

[wibadgers23]

9 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

Who would Benintendi  replace in the everyday lineup if everyone is healthy? 

I would imagine Yelich, Benintendi and Renfroe is your starting OF with McCutchen the DH and Taylor in some sort of bench role.

[Brock Beauchamp]

11 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

Who would Benintendi  replace in the everyday lineup if everyone is healthy? 

He bats lefty so he could replace Renfroe and/or McCutchen regularly. 

[MVP2110]

His bat is fine, although only 3 Home Runs this year is interesting(and not in a good way) but I don't understand where we would play him. He hasn't played CF since 2018 and we all know the Brewers really want a good defensive CF. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

40 minutes ago, MVP2110 said:

His bat is fine, although only 3 Home Runs this year is interesting(and not in a good way) but I don't understand where we would play him. He hasn't played CF since 2018 and we all know the Brewers really want a good defensive CF. 

He doesn’t have a lot of power but this lineup doesn’t need power. What it needs is Benintendi’s near-.400 OBP. 

[NBBrewFan]

We have mixed results with former Red Sox, but if the price is right I think this makes a lot of sense to me.  If they can't swing a deal for a CF I would imagine he would split time with Taylor in CF and as brock mentioned above, spell McCutcheon and Renfroe.

[Brock Beauchamp]

33 minutes ago, NBBrewFan said:

We have mixed results with former Red Sox, but if the price is right I think this makes a lot of sense to me.  If they can't swing a deal for a CF I would imagine he would split time with Taylor in CF and as brock mentioned above, spell McCutcheon and Renfroe.

I wish I knew more about Benintendi in CF. He hasn't played there in quite some time but if he's even playable there, I'd pursue him pretty aggressively. I don't think I'll like the iron price the A's ask for Laureano.

[NBBrewFan]

1 minute ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I wish I knew more about Benintendi in CF. He hasn't played there in quite some time but if he's even playable there, I'd pursue him pretty aggressively. I don't think I'll like the iron price the A's ask for Laureano.

Yeah.  I don't think they go the route of a longer-term CF replacement.  I don't see Frelick having the bat to fill a corner OF spot (at least for a few years until he's established/fully matured) and Turang could also fill a CF role depending on how they replace Wong.  I just don't see them paying the premium in prospects to clog up CF.  At some point they need their prospects to fill roster holes so they can focus monetary assets on other positions.  

[BruisedCrew]

If Benintendi can play CF decently, that would be the only way acquiring him would make sense to me. Otherwise he’d be replacing Yelich, Mc Cutchen or Renfroe and that wouldn’t seem like enough of an upgrade to the offense to make it worth giving up much for him. 
 

It would give them more depth in the OF to cover days off and injuries. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

9 minutes ago, NBBrewFan said:

Yeah.  I don't think they go the route of a longer-term CF replacement.  I don't see Frelick having the bat to fill a corner OF spot (at least for a few years until he's established/fully matured) and Turang could also fill a CF role depending on how they replace Wong.  I just don't see them paying the premium in prospects to clog up CF.  At some point they need their prospects to fill roster holes so they can focus monetary assets on other positions.  

I don't think Stearns would hesitate to "clog" centerfield but I think the price of doing so is probably more than the Brewers are willing to pay, particularly from the A's given the rumors of what they were asking for Montas in the offseason (and I was personally quite satisfied how badly that bit them in the ass).

[nate82]

The ever popular Whit Merrifield could also be a target though I don't think he has played much CF lately either.  Merrifield had a horrible start to the year but since June he has been normal Merrifield.  

[Robocaller]

There is a Benintendi thread only partway down the Transaction Rumor page.

He's a decent player, but unless you think he can play adequate CF (or McCutchen can), he's not a great fit.

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, Robocaller said:

There is a Benintendi thread only partway down the Transaction Rumor page.

He's a decent player, but unless you think he can play adequate CF (or McCutchen can), he's not a great fit.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if we have multiple threads on the same person. Descriptive titles work better and old threads tend to turn to wallpaper within just a few weeks. People want to talk about this stuff, as evidenced by the number of replies in just a few hours.

As for Benintendi, I agree he’s not a perfect fit but his offensive profile looks really good on this team, even if his defensive profile isn’t a great fit. The Brewers could fit him into a lineup easier than they could another first baseman. 

[DuWayne Steurer]

We've played McCutchen in CF in a pinch, and Benintendi's a good defensive LF. Let's not pretend that Benintendi's defense won't be passable for 60-ish games to get that .400-ish OBP in the lineup. We've been playing Jon Davis and his .250 slg percentage out there for the last 3 weeks after having Cain and his .450 OPS out there for the majority of the first 2 months.

Benintendi would have to be a near butcher in CF to not make the upgrade to the offense worth the risk at this point. 

[Robocaller]

5 hours ago, DuWayne Steurer said:

We've played McCutchen in CF in a pinch, and Benintendi's a good defensive LF. Let's not pretend that Benintendi's defense won't be passable for 60-ish games to get that .400-ish OBP in the lineup. We've been playing Jon Davis and his .250 slg percentage out there for the last 3 weeks after having Cain and his .450 OPS out there for the majority of the first 2 months.

Benintendi would have to be a near butcher in CF to not make the upgrade to the offense worth the risk at this point. 

Benintendi is hitting far better than he ever has (AVE .317, OBP .386). He'll likely regress. And since Taylor is back, Davis won't be playing that much. And Benintendi is pretty bad in CF; Taylor is significantly better.

[Jim French Stepstool]

This is just an interesting scenario. He fits into the batting order like a glove. Defensively not so much, and this is the organization that's real big on run prevention. On the other hand these are the same folks that had Travis Shaw playing 2B. Due to the odds of swinging a deal being greatly increased b/c of the vax situation I suspect we'll go after him pretty hard.

[DuWayne Steurer]

6 hours ago, Robocaller said:

Benintendi is hitting far better than he ever has (AVE .317, OBP .386). He'll likely regress. And since Taylor is back, Davis won't be playing that much. And Benintendi is pretty bad in CF; Taylor is significantly better.

Benintendi has a career .352 OBP, so if he does regress, it's not likely to be much.  He hasn't been good in CF, but he's been serviceable when he plays there. We're talking 50 - 60 games at this point, so the run diff between him and an average CF (Taylor) would be 3-4 runs maybe.

Taylor's carrying a .275 OBP.  Just not good enough to be playing every day for this team that's struggling to score runs. Benintendi fits the profile perfectly (Like JFS says above) of what the offense needs..... literally just a guy to not make outs.  Get on base, move the order to the next guy, and move runners around. 

[Lathund]

I think as long as they feel like Benintendi is passable enough in CF to play there maybe twice a week or so (Perhaps when the least fly-ball prone pitchers are on the mound) it'll be a good roster fit. Other days it'll be Yelich, Benintendi and Cutch rotating the LF/DH spots. Occasionally Renfroe too I suppose, but I like his defense in RF. 

[BrewCrewBlueDevil]

Benentendi for Huira, Velario, Erceg and Shook. 

RHP

Yelich DH

Benentendi LF

Renfroe RF

Adames SS

Tellez 1B

Urias 3B

Taylor CF 

Narvaez/Caratini C 

Wong 2B 

 

LHP 

McCutchen DH

Benentendi LF 

Renfroe RF 

Adames SS 

Urias 3B 

Tellez 1B

Taylor CF 

Caratini C 

Wong 2B

 

[Hopper]

Just found this little nugget.  If the Yankees are "serious" contenders, I doubt we are.  The vax thing could improve our chances, but I highly doubt the mighty Yankees would let that deter them from getting a guy they want.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Yankees have emerged as "serious contenders" to acquire Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi.  The 28-year-old All-Star continues to draw interest from a variety of teams and looks increasingly likely to be dealt before the trade deadline. Benintendi is unvaccinated though and would not be able to travel to Toronto for the Yankees three-game set against the Jays in September -- or in any potential playoff matchup. He's slashing .319/.389/.402 with just three homers, 39 RBI and two stolen bases (in four attempts) on the season.

SOURCE: Mark Feinsand on Twitter

Jul 23, 2022, 12:19 PM ET

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Hopper said:

Just found this little nugget.  If the Yankees are "serious" contenders, I doubt we are.  The vax thing could improve our chances, but I highly doubt the mighty Yankees would let that deter them from getting a guy they want.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Yankees have emerged as "serious contenders" to acquire Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi.  The 28-year-old All-Star continues to draw interest from a variety of teams and looks increasingly likely to be dealt before the trade deadline. Benintendi is unvaccinated though and would not be able to travel to Toronto for the Yankees three-game set against the Jays in September -- or in any potential playoff matchup. He's slashing .319/.389/.402 with just three homers, 39 RBI and two stolen bases (in four attempts) on the season.

SOURCE: Mark Feinsand on Twitter

Jul 23, 2022, 12:19 PM ET

I just don’t see how this makes sense for New York given their odds of facing the Jays in the second round.

And besides, how badly do the Yankees really need another bat?