KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced tonight that they have traded All-Star and reigning Rawlings Gold Glove outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the New York Yankees for right-handed pitchers Chandler Champlain and Beck Way and left-handed pitcher T.J. Sikkema.
“Andrew Benintendi is a true professional and a great example of how a winning player prepares and competes,” Royals President of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore said. “It was an absolute joy for all of us with the Royals to have him with our organization and in our city.”
The Royals now have 39 players on the Major League Reserve List and 25 on the active Major League roster and will announce a corresponding move tomorrow. Way and Sikkema will be assigned to High-A Quad Cities, and Champlain will be assigned to Low-A Columbia.
Champlain, who turned 23 last Saturday, owns a 4.30 ERA (35 ER in 73.1 IP) with 94 strikeouts (11.5 K/9) and just 19 walks (2.3 BB/9) in 16 appearances (15 starts) with Low-A Tampa this season. In his July 17 start vs. Daytona, he recorded a career-best 11 strikeouts with no walks in 6.0 innings. He was selected in the ninth round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of USC.
Way, 22, is 5-5 with a 3.73 ERA (30 ER in 72.1 IP) and 80 strikeouts (10.0 K/9) in 15 starts with High-A Hudson Valley this season. He leads the South Atlantic League with a .212 opponents’ average (55-for-259), ranks 3rd in WHIP (1.12) and is tied for 3rd in ERA. In his most recent start last Saturday at Wilmington, he recorded 6.0 no-hit innings en route to a 3-0 win. He was selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of Northwest Florida State College.
Sikkema (sick-KEHM-uh), who turned 24 on Monday, owns a 2.48 ERA (10 ER in 36.1 IP) with 54 strikeouts (13.4 K/9) and 9 walks (2.2 BB/9) in 10 starts (11 appearances) with High-A Hudson Valley this season. He has struck out 21 batters over 10.1 innings in his last 2 starts, a stretch in which he’s allowed just 2 earned runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, including 11 strikeouts in 5.0 innings on July 10 at Jersey Shore, and 10 strikeouts in 5.1 innings in his most recent start on July 16 vs. Greenville. The left hander was selected by the Yankees in Competitive Balance Round A (38th overall) in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Missouri.
Benintendi, 28, represented the Royals in the All-Star Game earlier this month, and is batting .320 (111-for-347) in 93 games this season, which ranks 5th in the Majors. He’s currently riding an eight-game hit streak, in which he’s batting .382 (13-for-34) and is batting .377 (40-for-106) in his last 29 games since June 20, a stretch in which he has more walks (15) than strikeouts (12).
