Not that we needed further proof of baseball's complete irrelevance both locally and nationally these days but tonight, one of Boston's best players was traded a week before Spring Training begins in Fort Myers and barely anyone seemed to realize it. There were rumors for months that the Red Sox were shopping outfielder Andrew Benintendi and they finally came to fruition as chief baseball officer (that will never sound less ridiculous) Chaim Bloom flipped him and an unspecified amount of cash to the Royals for outfielder Franchy Cordero and two players to be named later. Additionally, Boston gets a minor league right-handed pitcher (Josh Winckowski) and a player to be named later from the Mets.
I'm not heartbroken to see Benny go but I just wish that the Red Sox started acting like a big market team again instead of Tampa Bay North. They have the money and the resources to attract whomever they want, so it's frustrating when they sell off their assets both big and small for a bunch of lottery tickets (which is what minor leaguers might as well be). Plus, this was a guy that is still only 26 years old and due for a bounce back after a down year in 2019 followed by basically a non-existent 2020-he was awful in 14 games before the Sox shut him down to save face in their pointless Covid-19 campaign.
He was also one of their biggest prospects in years as Benintendi was chosen No. 7 overall in the 2015 draft, he reached the majors in two years (finishing as the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year in 2017) and was a key part (.290 batting average, 16 HRs and 87 RBIs) of their World Series champion squad in 2018. With a resume like that, coupled with a sweet swing and natural ability in the outfield, you can see why he probably got overrated a little too soon. It'll be interesting to see if his career gets back untracked in Kansas City where there is no pressure and once again, the team is in the gutter.
I couldn't care less about these guys that the Red Sox received since I've never heard of either of them before. There are so many levels in professional baseball and therefore it's so hard to make it to MLB that it is a complete waste of time to talk about any of them before they are on the verge of getting called up to the highest level. Baseball already has way too many problems with the game itself and I worry that it'll be another lost season for the Red Sox in 2021. I used to love the sport and this team but they have each made it very hard in recent years to have anything besides a passing interest in it anymore. Please change my mind Red Sox but I'm not holding my breath for robot Bloom and his legion of dorks to make this dead product more exciting.
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