Miami Marlins have a new trade option

The Miami Marlins have an interesting potential solution for our center field problem. I’m still high on our current center fielder Jesús Sánchez, but for now it makes sense to acquire someone who can do a bit better than his 0.5 WAR and 0.3 dWAR. Who would be a better option? How about Kansas City Royals left fielder Andrew Benintendi?!

Andrew Benintendi should be the new Miami Marlins center fielder.

Andrew Benintendi is having a career year on the hapless Kansas City Royals. It’s pretty obvious that they won’t make the playoffs, and will really just be competing with the Detroit Tigers for last place in the AL Central. The obvious thing for Kansas City to do is to trade Benintendi to a playoff contending team. The Miami Marlins have a shot at the playoffs…

Andrew Benintendi currently has 2.2 WAR with a .319/.388/.405 batting line and 3 home runs and 33 RBI in 301 AB’s. That’s a pretty good season to say the least. What about his defense? Benintendi plays left field and has a shockingly low -0.2 dWAR there. That said, he played center field before and might just be decent enough if put there again.

The Philadelphia Phillies. Philly is directly ahead of the Miami Marlins in the chase for the final NL Wild Card spot and will likely be looking for center field help at the trade deadline. It makes sense for the Miami Marlins to strike pre-emptively and pick him up first.

What will Andrew Benintendi cost The Fish? Not much to be honest. He’s a free agent at the end of the season and isn’t playing a premier position or hitting a lot of home runs. I’m pretty convinced that the cost will include mostly lower level prospects. Luckily, it definitely won’t be any of our elite prospects.

Andrew Benintendi would be a great fit for the Miami Marlins in center field and would keep our division rivals from getting him instead. The cost is also likely to be low making it a brilliant move for Kim Ng and her front office.