7 (or more) trade targets from the Kansas City Royals for the Colorado Rockies

Kansas City Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi would give the Colorado Rockies a quality outfielder.

Back in October, when we did a list of one player the Colorado Rockies should target for a trade with each team, Benintendi was our pick for the Kansas City Royals

One of the biggest areas of need for the Rockies is a power bat and, likely, that will come in the outfield. Andrew Benintendi could provide that.

Benintendi, 27, just finished his first season as a member of the Royals after they got him from the Boston Red Sox in February in a three-team deal. Benintendi, who was MLB.com’s #1 overall prospect entering 2017, has not quite lived up to his prospect ranking but he does hit a lot of doubles.

In 2021, he hit .276/.324/.442 with 17 homers, 73 RBI, and 27 doubles in 134 games, which was good enough for a 104 OPS+. His good defense (7 Defensive Runs Saved) was good enough to get him a Gold Glove Award, the first in his career.

In 2020, he was injured for most of the season (he only played in 14 games) with a rib cage strain. In 2019, Benintendi hit .266/.343/.431 with 40 doubles, 13 homers, 68 RBI, and an OPS+ of 99.

2018 was Benintendi’s best season as he hit 41 doubles, 16 homers, and had 87 RBI with a .290/.366/.465 slash line, and an OPS+ of 123. He also helped the Red Sox win the World Series as he hit .268/.328/.339 in the postseason with four doubles and five RBI. He also had 12 DRS in left field in 129 games (but he had -6 DRS in 24 games in center field).

Benintendi is entering the final year of his contract before free agency and in arbitration, he is going to get roughly $9.2 million.