MLB’s August 2nd Trade Deadline is more than a month away, but the Blue Jays are already showing early interest in Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Morosi further speculates that Kansas City’s bullpen arms may be of some interest to Toronto, whose crop of relievers currently sport the game’s 24th best ERA.
The Blue Jays for their part are hardly hurting on offense, as the team currently sports the best OPS in all of baseball. At the rate he’s producing, however, Benintendi and his .303/.368/.391 (116 OPS+) slash would be a boon to any lineup. The reigning Gold Glove winner may also be viewed as a more reliable candidate to man left field than Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who has drawn more divisive reviews of his glovework in recent seasons.
A left-handed bat his been on the Blue Jays wishlist since last offseason, though to date the only left-handed hitters to grace the Jays lineup this season with some regularity have been Cavan Biggio, backup catcher Zack Collins, and light-hitting outfielder Raimel Tapia. A hypothetical Benintendi acquisition would represent a way to diversify the handedness of the Jays’ lineup, though doing so would likely relegate Gurriel Jr. to an overqualified bench role or indirectly infringe on Biggio’s playing time.
It’s worth noting that Benintendi wouldn’t be a lock to start every game for an acquiring team, as his platoon splits, particularly this year, have painted him as much more adept hitter against right-handed pitching. Acquiring Benintendi then, who is a free agent at the end of the season, would improve the team’s outfield defense, lineup balance, and bench in one shape or another for what figures to be a minimal prospect cost.
Kansas City may seem an odd fit for reliever shopping, as their bullpen has uncharacteristically struggled to worse run prevention numbers than the Jays’. The unit is led by one of the more unheralded closers in the league however, as right-hander Scott Barlow has posted a 2.36 ERA with strong peripherals dating back to last year (107 innings). The Royals are under no obligation to ship the 29-year-old Barlow anywhere, sought after as he likely will be, due to his additional three years of team control.
With a 13-game gulf between the second-place Jays and the first-place Yankees there’s likely little expectation that a modest outfield upgrade or bullpen improvement will be the driving forces behind a second half surge. Still, the team is currently nestled atop a tight Wild Card race, with Boston, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland no more than 3.5 games back and only three playoff spots to split between them. Any acquisitions the Jays make within the next month figure to help the club field a more competitive team come October and, more pressingly, stave off a number of clubs who are a hot-streak away from upending the Wild Card race altogether.
Can Benintendi pitch?
No. But Staumont and Barlow certainly can, who will surely be packaged along with Benintendi in order to acquire Trent Thornton.
Hahahahaha.
Let’s be honest, Thornton should be traded for the hot dog vendors in Section 104 of Kaufman Stadium.
No interest whatsoever in trading Barlow or Staumont. ok maybe for Vlad Jr :p
Denied
Dumpires just struck out Dalbec. You don’t need to throw strikes when you get the extra large strike zone. Robot umps can’t come soon enough to put an end to this incompetence.
Hey, didn’t expect you on the boards tonight…you recovering already? How did everything go?
I’m in for two days. Can’t just lay here and not get stressed out by baseball. ;-0
But seriously, just stiff right now, no pain. Was hoping to get up and walk but maybe that will happen tomorrow. So far so good.
Great to hear, man. I’m happy for you, bro. Glad you pulled through okay and aren’t in any real pain. Good luck with your walking tomorrow – first day of your new 60,000 miles!
The first 60,000 took me 42 years. I’ll be 107.
And 42 years in Red Sox fan years is 378. Well, it depends which 42 years you’re talking about. From 1962 to 2004 was definitely 378 years. Oh, the agony. It’s gotten better. But now the dang Yankees are going to 119 games if they keep it up. So the next 42 years might be 378 again.
Lol, I hear ya, man. Okay, so maybe dial it back to 40k? Then you’re only 90 or so and you can coast the last few…
Glad to read you’re doing well, man. I wish you a speedy continued recovery.
Yankees and Redsox fans getting along?
Ya the Jays are certainly winning the WS. Pigs are flying
Lol
JaysFan: Lolol… Right?! Nah, Hayzee and us Yankees fans have our spirited debates on here, man, but some things transcend sports teams – people and their health are two of them.
Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!
Missed strike call on Chapman. Game should be over.
Toronto is tough. Great lineup. Sox barely won.
Benintendi,Bell,Blackmon.
None of these guys are or should be on the Jays radar. They don’t move the needle, LHH be damned
You gotta be better than Lourdes or Teoscar.
You gotta be better than Kirk or Moreno
Only LHH I see coming is a HUGE upgrade in the OF. It has to be Soto or Harper. Why waste prospects on anyone else unless it’s fringe guys,
Sorry KC, Sorry COL. Sorry Nats, if you ain’t giving us Marquez, if it’s Not Soto. Youre not getting anyone in the top 200. 300 even.
Jays better not give up a single prospect if it’s not IMPACTFUL
I suppose it depends on your profile preference offensively, but there is zero question that Benintendi would be an upgrade skills-wise over both Gurriel and Teoscar on defense.
Defensively sure, but we have a LHH OF glove in Zimmer, he’d definitely better on the Glove side than Beni, so is it worth bringing Beni in?
I think I’d rather shoehorn Bell in at DH over Beni in LF
Lourdes has also won a Gold Glove (admittedly I don’t understand how tho) and has a top 10 arm from the OF.
In what year did Lourdes win a GG?
I think you’re confusing him with his brother
Yup, Yuli won last year. Lourdes, not so much. Maybe one day.
Fun fact I just learned, Yuli set the record for oldest first baseman to win a GG at age 37.
Sorry you’re right. LOURDES was just nominated last year and was runner up to Beni.
For some reason I thought he won, actually had to go look it up.
Close enough tho.
The Blue Jays are still interested
Bichette/Kirk/Lourdes/Groshans/Tieddeman for Soto
Realistic or gtfo?
Moreno and Kirk, plus Groshans and Orelvis can be interchangeable if required
How does that come close to making us better?
The bullpen is their problem and has been for years now. They keep taking fliers on reclamation projects and refuse to spend on free agents or more importantly develop relief arms in their system. This whole shortstop/starting pitcher and we’ll figure it out later minor league system needs to stop. The shortstops they convert to other positions end up being horrible defensively and the starters they dream of usually never make it. Time to start drafting and developing high end relief arms from the get go. It’s become a huge part of the game and if they don’t want to spend money on them in free agency then it needs to happen in the draft
Id rather have them do reclaim projects with little cash than multiple losing contracts when Colorado did a few years back.
I’ve got no problem with not spending on relief arms to save for other areas but if you’re not then you need to develop them in the minors. Why are guys like Palmer, Dallas, Zulueta, and Klofenstein all being stretched out in the minors when the odds of anyone of them being legit starters is very slim. All four of these guys stuff would play up big time in short stints and could help this team in the near future. Guys just don’t go from starting to instantly being dialed in with one inning relief. It’s a mind set that needs to be developed physically and mentally.
Zulueta is kind of on a clock in that regard now as he’s rule 5 eligible this coming off-season. Being out the last couple of years, he may have his workload reduced later this season In which case a move to a relief role and promotion seem plausible. You see why they keep him starting for now though. He holds his velo deep into games.
Hayden Juenger is the guy I’d like them to take the fast track, aim for the likeliest outcome approach with. He was drafted as a reliever, but Toronto saw starter potential and has moved him aggressively while letting him cover a multi inning workload including starting.
They have embraced that multi inning idea in the organization if you look at the game logs.
BlueJ’sAllDay;
I keep writing here…….
Shapiro is not good with pitching. Doesn’t get it. His idea is to overload on position players – and yes, get a lot of SS prospects that he can move to other positions….(plus make catchers out of hitters that should be DH’ing) – then trade some excess hitting for developed pitchers.
It’s far easier to scout, sign and develop position players than it is pitchers. Lot’s of Baseball Ops heads go that route. Theo Epstein did it in both Boston and Chicago. The problem is that pitchers need to constantly be recalibrated, and sometimes even be reworked. When an organization can’t develop pitchers, they can’t do that work. So their pitchers wither away (sometimes they get to an organization that ressurects their career) and the club is endlessly overpaying in both prospects and salary to fill holes on their staff.
Inevitably the prospect / position player excess is worked down, the veteran players are at high salaries, and the organization needs to enter into some sort of rebuild.
P.S. There are always exceptions to the rule. But not enough to make a difference
They traded for Berrios and signed Kikuchi. What more do you want? Those are the guys they dumped their prospects/money for. If those guys were halfway decent, the Jays would have a dangerous roster. But since they aren’t good, the bullpen gets exploited and overworked.
The Yankees have the blueprint… develop young arms and trade them to any team for whatever you want/need. Not only are the Yankees stacked with good, young pitching of their own, but the pitchers theyve parted with are also really good too with their new teams.
The Yankees got their pitching coach from Cleveland. Until he came, they weren’t developing any pitchers. They’re doing what Cleveland has been doing for years
The Royals should trade Benitendi for the Yankees pitching coach!! That is the biggest need for the Royals right now.
Benitendi would be too good to pass up if the cost is reasonable.
Wouldn’t it have to be?? He’s a free agent at the end of the season, so he’s a summer rental for the Jays.
Forget replacing Lordes or Teoscar. Tapia has had 204 Abs this season, Zimmer has had 64. If Beni replaces all those Abs they are at better team, just based on his massive ops upgrade alone.
Not that I want it to happen, but David Robertson would probably help the Jays quite a bit. I’d rather see him go to the Marlins though, if he doesn’t come back to New York.
In case anyone forgot, Andujar is still available…at the right price.
Benintendi is fine. There are a bunch of fine corner outfield trade candidates. The reality though is that if they aren’t viable CFs, it’s less of a fit. Teoscar and Lourdes are lineup regulars and Biggio can also play the corner outfield spots. It’s fine to get Benintendi in left against righties and Gurriel DHs. But Kirk will DH a bunch as would Springer ideally. So if you are getting a corner only type, I’d just as soon it be someone who would hit a little higher in the lineup and not worry about position. I like Bell in that regard. DH/1B only isn’t any more of a roster inefficiency than LF only. Though if they think Benintendi is viable to cover CF a few times a week, it really boosts the roster. Right now when Springer is not in CF it forces Tapia into the lineup. Benintendi would be an upgrade there.
Toronto needs pitching right now. They have the offense but can’t keep the leads.
Joe Kelly of WSox may be a good fit for Toronto, but the former will wait until Minn/Cle push them further out of division contention.
I don’t think the ChiSox are fixable at his time. I wonder who’s to blame?
If the Jays don’t improve the pen, this super team they put together won’t get to the playoffs.
Assume the Jays are just getting the lay of the trade deadline land. Certainly addressing their most glaring needs via trades would maximize their chances of winning more games. B-tendi certainly would be a luxury that doesn’t address absolutely glaring weaknesses.
Benny to the Yanks
As a Red Sox fan, that would really hurt. Also, NY would eat him alive.
Absolutely not. Dayton Moore may have made some pretty stupid decisions with trades (like the Padres trade in 2017) but he’s not stupid enough to trade with the evil empire.
Danny Janssen and Jordan Groshans will nearly certainly be dealt for bullpen upgrades. Kirk and Moreno are essentially untouchable now and can likely handle a catching platoon.
Tigers and Rockies appear to be logical trade partners given their starting catcher deficiencies.
Curious as to others thoughts.
I just hope Danny can come back healthy with a hot hitting streak to increase his value.
Danny is the one to trade. Pitching please!
There’s not a chance the Jays are going anywhere in the playoffs without adding a top of the rotation starter and to swing and miss relievers. Forget hitters, the Jays have enough offence. It’s the same old story with the Toronto Blue Jays no pitching. Seven years of Shapiro have produced one starter, Manoah and a few relievers. That is the problem.
Almost anyone BUT the Boooooo Jays and the Yankees please! I don’t like the Booo Jays or the Yankees and I will not cheer for either one in the playoffs I would be OK with the Brewers or Padres.
Sooooo this rumour is garbage….look into the “insider” and going forward keep their track record in mind
A.B. Is unvaxxed so no way he’s coming to the jays