Red Sox promote top prospect Andrew Benintendi

As everyone knows, just because the trade deadline passes doesn’t mean the moves stop. Just take the Red Sox, who were not sitting completely still at during yesterday’s flurry of trades, acquiring Fernando Abad from the Twins. But if Boston was looking for some new blood to inject into their outfield (Which has been hitting .279 since the All-Star break and .287 for the year, no big deal), they did not find it on the trade market.

So, what’s a front office to do? In Boston’s case, simply pull a guy from your highly touted farm system.

The Red Sox are calling up top prospect Andrew Benintendi from Double-A Portland, giving the big club a boost in the outfield hours after the non-waiver trade deadline passed.

Benintendi is expected to arrive before Boston’s game Tuesday night at Seattle, Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said...

Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski, rumored to be pushing for White Sox ace Chris Sale at one point yesterday, was clearly unmotivated to move either Benintendi or Yoan Moncada during Monday’s free-for-all (in which the most trades since 1995 were executed), calling both players “really good.”

In 108 games last season, Benintendi hit .318 with a .972 OPS. This year, as a top ten prospect in all of baseball, he has slashed a mere .312/.378/.532 at the A+ and AA levels of the Red Sox system (With Salem, he only struck out nine times in 135 AB). The 21-year-old seventh overall 2015 draft pick was being closely monitored by the organization in May, when his OPS was 1.088. Fans were already clamoring for his appearance by the end of June. When mid-July rolled around, Benintendi himself was chomping at the bit:

“I think I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about [getting to the big leagues]. I trust the guys who make those decisions, trust in the process and whatever happens, happens.”

“The guys” have made their decision, and clearly the trust flows both ways (for now). Baseball America is expecting him to bring a Kyle Schwarber-esque presence to the Red Sox starting nine. Clearly, they’re hoping Benintendi’s surfacing brings about a new era in Beantown.