Red Sox GM defends Benintendi trade amid bounce-back year

Boston Red Sox general manager Chaim Bloom isn't ready to concede defeat on the Andrew Benintendi trade despite his former outfielder's flourishing campaign with the Kansas City Royals.

The Red Sox shipped out Benintendi in a three-team deal on the heels of an injury-depleted season. In return, they received outfielder Franchy Cordero - who has struggled in Boston - along with pitching prospect Josh Winckowski and three players to be named later.

"I think with that deal, obviously we know that Franchy didn't get off to the start we were hoping," Bloom said Thursday on WEEI. "We sent him down (to Triple-A) so he could play every day. He goes down there, and right away, he shows you the ability that we knew was there. So hopefully, we can get him on track. Winckowski has done great.

"Obviously, we know the prospect component of that trade is going to take a while to play out. That's just the nature of it. You try not to jump to conclusions on a daily basis when you wake up in the morning based on the box scores from the day before. But of course, we're always looking at that. As we see guys putting together seasons and putting together careers, to think about what we saw coming and what we could have seen coming a little better."

Thanks in part to Benintendi's resurgence, the Royals find themselves in contention to make the playoffs for the first time since capturing the World Series in 2015. Benintendi owns a team-high .291 batting average and ranks second on the club with a .348 on-base percentage. The 26-year-old bashed his fifth home run of the campaign Tuesday, notching a grand slam in Kansas City's 10-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cordero, on the other hand, is hitting .179/.228/.274 in 34 appearances for the Red Sox. The outfielder has fared better in Triple-A, but he's the same age as Benintendi and still looking to establish himself as an everyday player in the majors.

Winckowski has started five games in Double-A this season, authoring a 1.33 ERA over 27 innings. Boston is expected to acquire the three players that were to be named later in the coming days.