Why the New York Mets should make a trade for Andrew Benintendi

With the MLB trade deadline just weeks away, the New York Mets are prime to be buyers once again this season. At the time of writing, the Mets are boasting a 52-31 record, sitting a very comfortable 21 games over .500 and first place in the NL East.

Offensively, the Mets are one of the most consistent teams in the MLB, as they are currently tied for the 3rd best team batting average in the league. Their starting rotation has also been very solid for them, and should only improve with Max Scherzer returning to the team, and Jacob deGrom hopefully not too far behind him.

However, despite the Mets success, they would be wise to improve their chances in the post season, and luckily for them, there are several quality players on the trade block whose services they could acquire. However, there is one hitter in particular that the Mets should pursue above all others.

The New York Mets should target Andrew Benintendi of the Kansas City Royals for a potential trade.

Andrew Benintendi is currently one of the top outfielders in the MLB and is set out to be one of the most highly sought after trade candidates prior to this seasons’ trade deadline.

A member of the 2018 World Series Champion Red Sox, Benintendi spent the first 5 years of his career in the MLB with Boston before being traded to Kansas City prior to the 2021 season, whom he’s been with the past year and a half.

Seeing as the Royals are currently sitting in 5th place in the AL Central, and with Benintendi is in the final year of his rookie contract and set to be a free agent this offseason, they would be fools not to trade him in exchange for a few prospects.

Through 80 games with Kansas City, Benintendi has hit 3 home runs with 33 RBI, batting .319 with a .388 OBP, which is ranked as the 9th best in the MLB.

He’s no slouch defensively either, as Andrew won himself a Gold Glove for his performance manning left field for Kansas City back in 2021.

Benintendi has also displayed some defensive versatility, as despite primarily being a left fielder, he's appeared in 71 games at Center Field at the major league level.

Despite his offensive and defensive prowess, some of you may be wondering why I am advocating for the Mets to pick up another outfielder above all other positions this deadline.

Currently, the Mets have one of the best all round outfields in the MLB, with Mark Canda, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte each producing consistently offensively, while each playing very well defensively in each of their respective posts in the field.

However, 2022 if the first year of the Universal DH, and while Benintendi is great defensively, his main appeal is his hot bat.

If acquired, the Mets could easily shift one of them to the DH position in the lineup, or create a rotation between the four of them to help keep everyone fresh down the stretch.

Benintendi would be a massive upgrade over the Mets’ usual options for designated hitter, which as of late has typically been occupied by some combination of Dominic Smith or JD Davis.

The potential of his bat getting added to the lineup could propel the Mets the next level and really help the team to run away with the division as we head down the final months of the season.

As things currently stand, despite New York’s success in the first half of the year, the Braves are only 3.5 games behind them for first place in the NL East and are set to face them more 15 times between now and the end of the year.

The Mets need to be firing on all cylinders during this stretch if they want to hold on to the division lead, and if they are going to make a move to help boost their offense, Andrew Benintendi is their best option.