Rick Hahn made his first big splash of the offseason by signing Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million deal on Friday. While $75 million is nowhere near some of the big numbers we have heard this offseason, it is still the largest free agent deal in franchise history and addresses a glaring hole in the corner outfield spots. 

The deal also places the White Sox at the top of the division in terms of spending this offseason. They previously signed Mike Clevinger to a one-year deal worth $12 million, placing their offseason tab at $87 million. 

The next highest is the Twins at $41 million with their additions of Christain Vasquez (3 years/$30 million) and Joey Gallo (1 year/$11 million), followed by the Guardians at $39 million, who added Josh Bell (2 years/ $33 million,) and Mike Zunino (1 year/ $6 million). 

But spending does not equal winning. The White Sox are looking to rebound after a disappointing 2022 campaign and take back the divison. Unfortunately for them, even with the addition of Benintendi, the Guardians look like the team to beat in the American League Central. They edged out the White Sox by 11 games last year and upgraded in the power department by adding some left-handed power with Bell and will likely see an increase in production from the catcher’s spot with the addition of Zunino. 

However, Benintendi solidifies the left-field defense and allows Eloy Jimenez to slot into the designated hitter role. So just how much does the 28-year-old outfielder help the White Sox? 

The Good

Benintendi is a former All-Star, Gold Glove Winner, and World Series Champion. He is an immediate upgrade in left field and adds an impact left-handed bat to the lineup, which checks many of the boxes the White Sox were looking for. 

He Gets On Base 

Benintendi is a disciplined hitter, ranking in the top 25 percentile of all MLB hitters in strikeout, chase, and whiff rates. He also finished the 2022 season in the 74th percentile in walk rate after drawing 52 free passes. In 2018-19 he drew 70-plus walks in back-to-back seasons. 

 He is a great guy to plug in near the top of the lineup to set the table for the rest of the lineup. If placed right behind Anderson, the White Sox would have a nice righty-lefty attack to put pressure on opposing pitchers. Like Anderson, Benintendi is a contact hitter that hits for average. 

The 28-year-old is coming off an All-Star season after hitting .304/.373/.399 with five home runs and 51 RBIs. He was having a career year in Kansas City, batting .320, before getting traded to New York, where his average plummeted to .254. The added pressure of New York may have factored into his decreased production. But his expected batting average still placed him in the 86th percentile of all MLB hitters last season. 

He has a career slash line of .279/.351/.431. That will play in any lineup he is plugged into. 

Postseason Experience 

Rick Hahn has shown that he values postseason experience. It is a common thread with much of the talent he brings in. Benintendi is a proven winner and had heavy expectations placed on him when he entered the league in 2016. 

He was once considered a top outfield prospect with the Red Sox after getting drafted seventh overall. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 after hitting a career-high 20 home runs and 90 RBIs. He then played a significant role in the Red Sox’s 2018 World Series run. 

In his second full season, he slashed .290/.366/.465 with 16 home runs and 87 RBIs. He also had a career-high 168 hits, 103 runs scored, 23 stolen bases, 41 doubles, and six triples.

During the postseason, he had four extra-base hits and hit .333 during the World Series. He hasn’t played in a postseason game since 2018, but he knows what it takes to win a ring. 

Upgrade On Defense 

The fact that fans won’t have to see Eloy Jimenez, Andrew Vaughn, or Gavin Sheets as everyday outfielders is already a victory. Jimenez will slide into the designated hitter role, while Vaughn will move from the outfield to first base after Jose Abreu’s departure to Houston. 

While Benintendi is a Gold Glove winner, his defensive metrics don’t jump off the page. For his career, he has a -16 in Outs Above Average. However, most of the damage came when he was in Boston, having to play left field with the Green Monster looming behind him. It remains one of the more difficult ballparks to play left field in, which explains his -10 OAA in 2019 and -8 mark in 2017. Last season he graded in the 59th percentile in OAA and 52nd percentile in outfield jump.

While he grades out as an average defender, he is a significant upgrade defensively from what the White Sox had last season. As a team, White Sox right fielders -13 defensive runs saved. Only the Rockies and Pirates had a lower rating. In left field, the White Sox had -6 defensive runs saved, while in center field, they had -3. He also had a better OAA and range than Pollock did last season. 

Benintendi’s presence in the outfield is a step in the right direction. 

The Bad

Benintendi does not fix one of the White Sox most significant issues from last season: a lack of power. While fans complained about Jose Abreu’s dip in power, his 15 home runs still ranked second on the team. Benintendi’s career high in home runs is just 20, and he has only hit 73 in seven seasons.

Not only does Benintendi not hit for power, but he also doesn’t hit the ball all that hard. His 2022 hard-hit percentage ranked in the league’s bottom half, while his barrel percentage was in the 25th percentile. He is primarily a singles hitter. 

Last season he hit just five home runs with a .399 slugging percentage. Not everyone in the White Sox lineup has to be a home run hitter, but the problem is the White Sox already has a lineup full of guys that match Benintendi’s skillset. 

As a team, they ranked fifth in the MLB in batting average (.256) and second in hits (1435). However, as we saw, hits don’t equal runs if they are primarily singles. The White Sox ranked 22nd in home runs and 18th in slugging percentage, which resulted in just 686 runs, good enough for 19th in the MLB. 

So where is the power going to come from? Andrew Vaughn is a good hitter, but his power is primarily theoretical. Vaughn has the potential to be a great power hitter. He led the team with 17 home runs, but we have yet to see him breakout for 20-plus. Oscar Colas is an unproven rookie, Yoan Moncada hasn’t hit more than 20 homers since 2019, and Gavin Sheets will not see playing time every day the way the lineup is constructed. 

That means the White Sox are banking on Eloy Jiminez to stay healthy and Yasmani Grandal to have a bounce-back season. Not exactly a recipe for success. 

The Grade

Benintendi has a connection to new manager Pedro Grifol. The two shared a dugout in Kansas City while Grifol served as the bench coach. During Bentendi’s Kansas City tenure, he earned a Gold Glove Award and began an All-Star campaign the following season before getting traded. The new manager must have liked what he saw. 

At $15 million a year, the contract is affordable. The White Sox are getting a solid defender and another lefty bat. But he does not make the White Sox significantly better from last season. 

While Benintendi is a good defender, he is not elite, and while he is a good hitter, he has little to no pop. While adding him to the roster is a step in the right direction, his presence will not be enough to get the White sox over the top unless we see some major bounce-back seasons from half the White Sox lineup. 

The Grade: C+