Benintendi wins arbitration case against Kansas City Royals, set to make $8.5 million
Andrew Benintendi accomplished what no other player has done during Dayton Moore’s tenure as the head of the Kansas City Royals’ baseball operations department.
On Friday, Benintendi became the first player to win an arbitration case against the club since Moore was hired in 2006.
The arbitration hearing took place on Thursday, and the decision came on Friday. A panel of arbitrators sided with Benintendi, who filed for a salary of $8.5 million. The Royals offered $7.3 million.
Benintendi, who is slated to be a free agent after this season, went into Friday night’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field having slashed .314/.368/.381 so far this season, with one home run and 12 RBIs in 29 games.
Salary-arbitration cases typically take place during spring training in February, but this year’s schedule was pushed back due to the MLB lockout and the transaction freeze that went along with the lockout.
This year, the deadline for teams and players to reach an agreement and avoid an arbitration hearing was March 22.
The Royals did not reach agreements with Benintendi or infielder Nicky Lopez, who reached arbitration eligibility for the first time this year. Lopez is expected to have his hearing next month.
Before this year, the only case to go through the full arbitration process between the Royals and a player during Moore’s tenure was when pitcher Brandon Maurer filed for a $3.5 million salary in 2018. The Royals won the hearing and Maurer made $2.95 million.
Benintendi, 27, won his first AL Gold Glove in left field last season after having been acquired from the Boston Red Sox in a trade last February. He slashed .276/.324/.442, hit 17 home runs and recorded 73 RBIs in his first season with the Royals.
He signed a contract extension with the Red Sox in 2020 that bought out his first two seasons of salary arbitration. He made $3.4 million in 2020 and $6.6 million in 2021.
The Royals received $2.8 million from the Red Sox to defray a portion of Benintendi’s salary when they acquired him last year.
