2021 Schedule

2021 Schedule
Is Andrew Benintendi another piece to help Royals contend in 2021? (1:24)
16d

Alden Gonzalez ESPN Staff Writer 

We need more teams like the Royals. Nobody really had them close to contention when the offseason began, but they signed a bunch of dudes early — Carlos Santana, Mike Minor, Michael Taylor — then traded for Andrew Benintendi and have given themselves a chance with several promising young arms.

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
16d

Red Sox send Benintendi to K.C. in 3-team deal

Outfielder Andrew Benintendi is headed from Fenway to Kansas City, with Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom acknowledging Wednesday night that "it's painful" for Boston fans to see another important player leave.

Jeff Passan ESPN 

A trade that would send outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals is not complete, but the Red Sox, Royals and Mets are working through details on a three-way deal that is expected to be finalized, sources tell ESPN.

William Weinbaum ESPN 

MLB's press release 50 years ago Tuesday said Satchel Paige "dominated Negro baseball as Babe Ruth dominated the major leagues." But Paige was named that day to a separate Hall of Fame exhibit from other enshrinees, as the first player recognized for Negro Leagues greatness. In the ensuing months, the Hall changed course and on August 9, 1971, inducted him as a full-fledged member — there are now 35 from the Negro Leagues immortalized in Cooperstown.

William Weinbaum ESPN 

The Hall of Fame announced 2/9/71 that Satchel Paige would be enshrined, but not in the area with major leaguers. His ex-KC Monarchs teammate Buck O'Neil said in our 1999 interview, "They were thinking about Negro League baseball: a bunch of clowns out there, just a bunch of showmen." The HoF changed its stance & O'Neil said, "Now it's a true Hall of Fame, this is baseball in America...it's a lesson that it was baseball at its finest."

William Weinbaum ESPN 

Negro Leagues legend Satchel Paige was announced as a Hall of Famer 2/9/71, but was to be honored in an area apart from major leaguers. That stance changed & the new inductee's plaque was mounted with the rest. Ted Williams advocated at his induction 5 years earlier for Paige's & Josh Gibson's inclusion & in our 1999 interview said, "Probably as important a thing as I ever said…. you might as well take the whole Hall of Fame out if he (Paige) is not in it -- greatest draw, greatest pitcher."

William Weinbaum ESPN 

Before Satchel Paige's 2/9/71 selection to the Hall of Fame & induction that August, no Negro Leaguers had been so honored. They hadn't played the requisite 10 years in the majors, HoF leadership had said, an argument historian Bill James described in our 1999 interview as: "We're no longer going to exclude you because you're Black, we're now going to exclude you because you're not qualified -- you're not qualified because we excluded you before."

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
42d

Royals reach 1-year deals with Keller, Mondesi

- The Kansas City Royals agreed to one-year contracts Friday with right-hander Brad Keller and infielder Adalberto Mondesi and have no further players eligible for salary arbitration.

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Team Stats

  • Batting
  • Pitching
Runs248Tied-24th
Batting Average.24416th
On Base Percentage.30926th
Slugging Percentage.40219th
Earned Run Average4.3012th
Quality Starts11Tied-15th
WHIP1.3820th
BAA.25422nd