Report: Yankees finalizing deal to acquire OF Benintendi from Royals

The New York Yankees are acquiring outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for three minor leaguers, according to a report by Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The New York Yankees are finalizing a deal to acquire outfielder Andrew Benintendi from Kansas City, sources tell ESPN. Three minor leaguers will be headed back to the Royals.

After struggling mightily in 2020, the 27-year-old Benintendi enjoyed a nice bounce-back season in 2021 and has kept it up this year with three home runs and 39 RBIs while hitting .321 in 92 games.

Benintendi beat Kansas City in arbitration earlier this year and is scheduled to become a free agent after the season.

The deal ends a one and a half-year run with the Royals after coming over in a trade with the Boston Red Sox in February of 2021.

Once a top prospect in the Red Sox organization, Benintendi finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 and was a member of Boston’s World Series-winning team a season later.

A native of Cincinnati, Benintendi made his big league debut back in August of 2016.