Related: Five players that the D-backs may trade before the Deadline
The New York Yankees make the first big move in the final week leading up to the MLB Trade Deadline, trading for Kansas City Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi.
Benintendi, 28, appeared in 93 games and hit .320/.387/.398 (123 OPS+) in 390 plate appearances for the Royals. Both Statcast and Baseball Info Solutions grade his glove close to average, with a +1 defensive runs saved and 0 outs above-average rating. Factoring all his contributions, Benintendi is on pace for a 3-WAR season in 2022.
The Yankees, looking for outfield help, locked onto Benintendi as one of their top trade targets with Diamondbacks left fielder David Peralta reportedly being their backup plan. For Benintendi, the Yankees sent the Royals LHP T.J. Sikkema, RHP Beck Way, and RHP Chandler Chapman. MLB Pipeline ranks Sikkema and Way 19th and 21st in the Yankees farm system.
With Benintendi’s trade completed, the question is how does this affect the D-backs? As mentioned above, Peralta was an option for the Yankees and likely other teams looking for a left-handed bat in the outfield. Peralta has hit .271/.326/.504 against righties, which is 20% better than the league average hitter according to Fangraphs’ wRC+ metric. His production against southpaws is non-existent, making him a strict platoon option who is likely limited to left field defensively.
So this begs the question of what return will Arizona get for Peralta? We can agree the return will be significantly less than what the Royals got for Benintendi. Peralta is nearly 7 years older than Benintendi and is strictly a platoon player while Benintendi is still an everyday player. Best case scenario, the return may be a player near the bottom of a team’s Top-30 list. The real return for the D-backs may just be the roster spot, which they can use to evaluate their outfielders currently in Reno.