The New York Yankees offseason has officially begun and there’s plenty of work to do. Yesterday, Hal Steinbrenner upset the majority fanbase in stating that Aaron Boone was a great manager and hinted at the fact that he’ll be back next season.
Brian Cashman currently doesn’t have a contract, but the expectation is that he’ll be back as GM. Then the focus will turn to the roster and the changes that need to be made there. Obviously, the top priority for the team is re-signing Aaron Judge.
However, Judge is not the only Yankee free agent the team is interested in bringing back. Anthony Rizzo is expected to opt out of his contract, but by all indications, the bombers are interested in retaining Rizzo and giving him a new contract.
One more player that there appears to be mutual interest with is Andrew Benintendi. From reading the tea leaves and asking around, it sounds like Benny from the Bronx might be back with the Yankees next season.
Will Yankees re-sign Benintendi?
Overall, Andrew Benintendi had a great season last year. In addition to playing Gold Glove level defense in the outfield, he hit .304 on the year. Now, he did his best work in Kansas City with the Royals. When the Yankees acquired him near the trade deadline, it was a bit of a struggle.
Benintendi hit .254 during his time with New York before he hurt his hand on a swing and missed the rest of the season. The frustrating thing for Benintendi is the fact that he was playing really well when he did suffer the injury.
SI wrote a story regarding Benintendi’s “Unfinished Business” in New York. He doesn’t feel like he got a chance to play his best baseball here and he really enjoyed his time with the team. Given Benintendi’s strengths and the team’s need, it seems to be a perfect fit.
Now, there are a lot of teams interested in Benintendi so the Yankees will have competition. However, after sending some feelers out, my gut tells me that there’s a really good chance Benny is back. What do you think? Would you like to see Benintendi back in the Bronx? Sound off!