10:10pm: The Yankees have introduced the commerce.
9:52pm: In return, Kansas Metropolis is buying pitching prospects T.J. Sikkema, Chandler Champlain and Beck Way, studies Joel Sherman of the New York Put up (Twitter link).
9:45pm: The Royals will purchase three minor league gamers in return, studies Jeff Passan of ESPN (on Twitter).
9:38pm: The Yankees are set to accumulate outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Royals, studies Jack Curry of the YES Community (Twitter link). New York has sought an outfield improve in current weeks, they usually’ll fill the hole by touchdown one of many high rental bats available on the market.
Benintendi has been one of many recreation’s most blatant commerce candidates for the previous few months. The Royals entered 2022 with designs on competing, however they stumbled to a 16-32 by the top of Might. That made Kansas Metropolis an apparent seemingly deadline vendor, and an impending free agent like Benintendi a powerful candidate to alter uniforms.
New York provides a contact-oriented bat to their outfield combine. Benintendi owns a .321/.389/.399 on the 12 months, strolling at a powerful 10.1% clip whereas solely punching out in 13.5% of his journeys to the plate. He’s solely related on three house runs, however Benintendi leads the majors with 91 singles and has picked up 14 doubles. He hasn’t regarded just like the 15-20 homer bat he was throughout his early seasons with the Pink Sox, however he’s made contact on a powerful 82.6% of his swings.
Benintendi’s manufacturing has been propped up by a career-high .368 batting common on balls in play. As a line drive hitter who makes use of your entire area, he sometimes generates strong outcomes on batted balls, though it’s unlikely the Yankees are anticipating his 2022 mark remaining fairly so excessive. Even when his BABIP regresses nearer to his .325 profession mark, his plate self-discipline and bat management ought to assist a strong on-base proportion.
These plus bat-to-ball expertise distinction Benintendi sharply with the participant whom he’s more likely to displace from the lineup, Joey Gallo. New York’s largest deadline pickup final summer time, Gallo has struggled mightily since touchdown within the Bronx. He’s a .160/.293/.371 hitter in 498 plate appearances as a Yankee, putting out at a large 38.4% clip over that stretch. Amongst hitters with 200+ plate appearances this season, Gallo has the third-highest strikeout price (38.1%) and third-lowest price of contact on swings (62.2%).
The Yankees at the moment are set to roll out an outfield of Benintendi, MVP candidate Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks — proprietor of a large .333/.471/.593 line this month after a gradual begin to the season — on most days. Giancarlo Stanton is the first designated hitter, though he landed on the injured checklist yesterday. New York has already begun to chop again Gallo’s enjoying time whereas working the scorching sizzling Matt Carpenter into the nook outfield combine, and tonight’s acquisition is the firmest sign but the Yankees are ready to squeeze Gallo out of the combo completely. It stands to cause they’ll attempt to discover a taker for him in commerce earlier than subsequent Tuesday’s deadline.
Choose has adequately dealt with a transfer from proper to heart area this 12 months, leaving Hicks and Benintendi to deal with the corners. The latter has performed completely left area since touchdown in Kansas Metropolis’s spacious house ballpark, ranking properly within the eyes of each Defensive Runs Saved and Final Zone Score. Statcast’s Outs Above Common has pegged him as precisely a scratch defender in every of the previous two years. He ought to add an satisfactory to above-average glove within the outfield whereas providing a notable enchancment over Gallo’s current work on the plate. It’ll be a notable enhance to a lineup that already led the majors with 523 runs scored.
That the Yankees pulled the set off on a Benintendi deal is certain to lift just a few eyebrows for an off-field cause. He was positioned on the restricted checklist earlier than the Royals current collection in Toronto, indicating he’d not been vaccinated towards COVID-19 on the time. That renders him unavailable for collection in Toronto barring a change in his vaccination standing or the elimination of the continued prohibition of unvaccinated athletes crossing the border. Stories shortly thereafter emerged the Yankees could possibly be dissuaded from pursuing him as a result of issues about his availability for video games in Toronto.
That clearly proved to not be the case ultimately. Jon Heyman of the New York Put up and Andy Martino of SNY every counsel (Twitter links) that some near Benintendi imagine he’s now keen to be vaccinated. Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark of the Athletic point out that Benintendi’s vaccination standing didn’t come up in talks between the Yankees and Royals entrance workplaces (Twitter link). Whether or not that’s as a result of they anticipate he’ll ultimately be eligible to play in Toronto or whether or not they’ve simply determined to just accept his potential absence for just a few video games isn’t clear.
The Yankees, who mockingly open a four-game collection towards the Royals tomorrow, solely have three common season video games remaining in Toronto. With an 11 1/2 recreation cushion over the Jays within the AL East, a three-game absence — if it involves that — appear unlikely to have a lot of an impact on the common season standings, though it could possibly be related within the occasion the Yankees and Jays meet once more within the playoffs.
Extra to come back.
