Let's do some thinking before we do our jumping.
There’s no way to judge this trade reasonably until we find out who the final 3 players are in this deal. Having said that, at the moment I understand why Bloom did what he did and think it has real potential to turn out well for the Sox. Yes, Benny did great things for the Sox in 2018. But Bloom is probably thinking of 2021 and beyond.
The Red Sox have more information about Benintendi than anyone. If they’re willing to trade him, that means they think the trade helps the team more than Benny does. Yes, it sucks, but that’s the only good answer I can think of.
Bloom may be thinking "Benintendi's bests years are behind him." For example:
2018BA OBP SLG OPS HR BB K AB. Wins Above Avg
.290 .366 .465 . 830 16 71 106 579 2.32019BA OBP SLG OPS HR BB K AB Wins Above Avg
.266 . 343 .431 .774 13 59 140 541 -.2 Almost all the important stats are down, but Ks are up.
I did not include last season since it was so horrific as to be some sort of outlier. (OPS .442
) But Bloom may read it differently.
And keep in mind that Benny's defense has not improved, nor his speed. They have declined. This is odd for a 25 year old OF and does not bode well going forward. As noted in this article:
"Benintendi has posted negative-2 Defensive Runs Saved in his past 1,230 ⅔ innings in left field (2019-20), after recording a positive-22 DRS in his first 2,387 ⅓ innings there from 2016-18"
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2020/12/red-sox-free-agency-does-andrew-benintendis-declining-defense-limit-the-mlb-free-agent-outfield-options-for-boston.htmlNEXT, as for the return, I can see what the Sox are thinking.
Cordero is supposedly toolsy as heck with power and speed with the ability to play all three outfield positions, unlike Benny. The high ceiling is there. I think they plan to work with him and see what happens. It’s the kind of high upside move that Bloom has a history of making.
Now on Cordero's downside, he is gawd-awful against left handed pitchers. But, then again, in AAA he was a great hitter with power. This is a "let's wait and see" player to me.
Winckowski has a chance to stick as a starter, but worst case scenario I see a cheap major league reliever in a year or two. He’s been young for every level he’s been at, so there’s plenty of time and potential for development. A couple of other team GMs have chimed in, saying this guy is going to be a good MLB pitcher and throws hard. He played injured last season in A ball (finger on his throwing hand) and still got guys out.
2020 A Ball, 2 teamsERA = 2.69
K/9 = 7.6
WHIP 1.2The 3 PTBNLs will be the key. Based on the other pieces moving around, the Mets prospect will probably be the best of the three and could possibly be a pretty decent prospect. Not a top prospect, but a decent prospect nonetheless.
I believe Speier mentioned all three would end up 11-20 in the Soxprospects rankings. If you haven't seen this, go to
https://soxprospects.com/index.html Lots of fun stuff there.
But also important is that is seems that Bloom won't decide WHICH players to choose until he has seen them in this upcoming minor league season. If so, that is a smart move by him. He wants to gather more info before deciding.
This is something Bloom is known for - building up the minor leagues. The results have been eventual talent as they graduate, and, immediate talent by trading them away.
So, Bloom (1) turned one player with 2 years of service time left (Benny) into a major league outfielder with a high ceiling/high risk OF with 3 (I think) years of service time (Cordero),
(2) a potential starter (probably reliever) that’ll slide somewhere in Soxprospects ranking of 20-30 if I had to guess, and
(3) three probable top 20 Sox prospects.
That’s the glass half full picture but that’s a pretty good trade if it works out. If, if, if.
And if nothing else, at least we have the 2018 Benny memories.