College Baseball
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Former Hog, Golden Spikes winner subject of trade rumors

Former Arkansas Razorback baseball star Andrew Benintendi has been in the news for three reasons in recent days.

First, he was the Golden Spikes Award winner in 2015, which goes to the nation’s best amateur player. So, he was mentioned a lot with another Hogs superstar, Wehiwa Aloy, winning the Golden Spikes Award Saturday.

Second, the left fielder for the Chicago White Sox was on a bit of a heater this week. He was 6-for-14 in three games Thursday (a doubleheader) and Friday while slugging a pair of home runs, collecting six RBIs and scoring three times.

Third, he’s the subject of trade rumors as the White Sox will once again seek to trade off valuable players to accumulate younger talent for their makeover.

When healthy this season, Benintendi has swung a productive bat for the White Sox. That makes him trade bait for the rebuilding team from the South Side of the Windy City.

A left-handed bat with power is always a coveted commodity as teams scramble to improve their playoff potential at the trade deadline.

That’s still more than six weeks away on July 31 but teams are taking stock now before the best investments are scooped up.

That’s the potential stumbling block when it comes to the White Sox moving Benintendi. He signed a hefty contract that has guaranteed money left through the 2027 season.

Still, if a team with deep pockets is willing to take on Benintendi’s contract it could help both teams. He’s in the third season a five-year, $75 million deal.

According to a Sports Illustrated story, no team is likely to agree to pay what Benintendi is due but reports are that the White Sox are willing to pay cash to any team they make a deal with to help facilitate a trade.

The White Sox would be asking for talented minor leaguers in return, or a young, established big leaguer to help their pitching rotation.

While some claim Benintendi is producing at the league average, his OPS is .755, a good chunk above the league average accepted as .700.

Plus, the sweet-swinging lefty was on a tear following the All-Star break last season. He slashed
263/.328/.502 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles and 38 RBIs. He was playing like an All Star, like the feared hitter he was at Arkansas.

He also had a hot start in 2025 but has battled injuries since spring training when he suffered a broken hand when hit by a pitch. He also spent time on the injured list with a left calf strain.

For the season, he’s had 180 at-bats with a slash line (average/on-base/slugging) of .244/.305/.450. He’s got eight homers, 29 RBIs and 23 runs scored.

If we say 540 at-bats would constitute a full season, Benintendi is producing at a fairly impressive rate that would result in 24 homers, 87 RBIs and 69 runs.

That’s not bad on a White Sox team that’s struggled offensively to a 23-52 record. They’ll reach the season’s halfway point in six more games.

Benintendi has enjoyed several highly productive big league seasons that included:
* Second in 2017 Rookie of the Year for American League.
* Gold Glove in 2021 for left field in American League.
* All Star in 2022 with AL’s Kansas City Royals.

He played two seasons for coach Dave Van Horn and the Razorbacks before signing a pro contract following his sensational season as a draft-eligible sophomore.

His phenomenal 2015 numbers included a slash line of .376/.488/.717 with an OPS of 1.205. He belted 20 home runs to go with 57 RBIs, 62 runs, 50 walks and stole 24-of-28 bases.

He was the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft, taken by the Boston Red Sox. He was a big leaguer by the next season and thrilled the Fenway Park crowd with a long ball in the playoffs.

In his first two-plus seasons, Benintendi played in five postseason series with the Red Sox, three when they won the 2018 World Series. In 21 postseason games, he hit .272 with an OPS of .729, two homers, nine RBIs, 18 runs and two steals.

Most of that production came when he was the starting left fielder in 2018 and finished second to Aaron Judge in the Rookie of the Year voting.

In the 2018 playoffs, he hit .268 with 15 hits, 15 runs and five RBIs in 14 games.

As for finishing behind Judge, well, he would’ve won rookie honors in most seasons. Benintendi had 20 homers, 90 RBIs, 84 runs, 70 walks, 26 doubles and stole 20-of-25 bases. His slash line was .271/.352/.424/.776.

But while Judge will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Benintendi is managing to have a solid and lengthy but unspectacular career.

Maybe he will get traded this season and find himself on another playoff run with a good team.

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