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Piece by piece, the slow teardown of the 2018 World Series champions of the Red Sox continues.
Exactly a year after trading Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, the Red Sox sent another fan favorite, Andrew Benintendi, to the Royals on Wednesday night as part of a three-team trade that also included the Mets. The popular and talented outfield that led them to a ring is now almost gone.
And while the money they saved by throwing Benintendi could theoretically be used to bring back center-back Jackie Bradley Jr., it doesn’t look like the Red Sox are planning on it, further marking the end of an era in Boston. .
“I know that for our fans it is not the first time in the past year and more that they have seen a player who is important to them and important to the organization to leave,” the manager said on Wednesday evening. from Chaim Bloom baseball to reporters. Betts and Benintendi. “I know it’s difficult. I know it is painful. We obviously do what we think is right for the organization.
“[But] we felt that we were able to meet a number of needs. It puts us on a good enough basis to move forward that it was worth swallowing hard and taking that painful step of trading a player who is really important to us and very talented.
The Red Sox have reunited with 26-year-old outfielder Franchy Cordero, who made 12 homers and 110 strikeouts in 315 major league appearances with the Royals and Padres, and pitcher prospect Josh Winckowski from the Mets. They are also expected to name two players later from Kansas City and one from New York.
Former baseball No. 1 prospect Benintendi looked like an aspiring star on the Red Sox’s road to the World Series. In 2018, he hit .290 with 16 home runs, 21 interceptions and a .830 OPS. But he calmed down in 2019, hitting .266 with a .774 OPS ahead of a brutal 2020, in which he went 4-for-39 (.103) in 14 games before being stopped with cage tension. thoracic.
As Benintendi and Betts are officially gone, Bloom said the Red Sox “are hopeful” that they can come to a deal with Bradley, but “we also recognize that it might not happen.” As currently constructed, the 2021 Red Sox outfield is reportedly owned by Cordero, Alex Verdugo and Hunter Renfroe.
Missing Bradley would also mean a completely clean home from the outfield which earned them a title in 2018.
“I wouldn’t have predicted it,” Managing Director Brian O’Halloran told reporters. “But we’re where we are and as we go along, as Chaim has talked about both after the Mookie Betts trade and again here tonight, we’re trying to make moves that we think we should. meaning for the club in our overall goals while we try. . . compete for a championship every year. “
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