St. Louis Cardinals: Would Andrew Benintendi be a good fit?

The trade rumor mill is picking up for Andrew Benintendi. Would the left fielder be a good fit for the St. Louis Cardinals?

The Boston Red Sox have reportedly been in serious talks with multiple teams to trade 26-year-old left fielder Andrew Benintendi. In October, Ben Remis noted Benintendi should be someone Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak should consider on the trade market.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic believes the Red Sox would be seeking young pitching in return for Benintendi. I would say the Cardinals could put anyone not named Jack Flaherty up for Benintendi and fans would be pleased.

After leaving the University of Arkansas, Benintendi moved to St. Louis to be closer to his girlfriend during the offseason. So, you know he has some knowledge of the city and how welcoming it is to talented baseball players.

Benintendi ended the COVID-19 shortened season day-to-day with a rib injury. Even taking this injury under consideration, he has had a good career roaming left field at Fenway Park. Per FanGraphs, he has only seven throwing errors and five fielding errors. With that massive left field, you could easily see there being more. Way more.

Benintendi has a career .273/.353/.435 with 51 homers and 260 RBI. He has a career WAR of 8.5. He is set to earn $6.6 million in the 2021 season. He will be arbitration eligible in 2022 and will be eligible to hit the free agent market in 2023.

The Cardinals seem on the verge of losing legends Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright and a two-time gold glove second baseman in Kolten Wong. The Cardinals, who still have a fairly solid core, will need a jolt of something this offseason.

Benintendi could provide that jolt. He is young with plenty of potential on the field and at the plate. With several young pitchers within the Cardinals system, it would be worth a shot to pull the trigger on a trade.