White Sox Hope Benintendi Will Prove To Be Worth The Wait

Funny things happen in the baseball draft every year.

Consider how the White Sox came to select Carson Fulmer, not Andrew Benintendi, in 2015.

Doug Laumann, then running the amateur draft for the White Sox, had watched Benintendi closely since his teenage years in tiny Madeira, Ohio. He stayed on him when Benintendi firmly committed to the University of Arkansas, and was recommending him long before Benintendi emerged as one of the best players in the NCAA tournament his junior year.

But the White Sox had gone 10-10 done the stretch en route to a 73-89 record in 2014. That late spurt meant the Red Sox would pick before the White Sox. They couldn’t ignore Benintendi’s potential to get to Boston quickly, and were rewarded when Benintendi got to the big leagues before the end of the ‘16 season.

He was a runner-up to Aaron Judge in Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 and played a huge role in the Red Sox winning a championship in ’18. Hitting between Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, Benintendi batted .268 and scored 15 runs in 14 games as Boston rolled through a modern gauntlet, beating the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers.

What might have changed had Robin Ventura’s White Sox team not finished strong in 2014? There’s no way to say but the White Sox have shuttled outfield corners throughout Benintendi’s career.

They hope to soon be locked in for mutual years, signing Benintendi to a five-year contract on Friday as they await the arrival of prospect Oscar Colas, hopefully by midseason in 2023. The Sox had been targeting Benintendi since the start of free agency but the size of their commitment comes as at least a little bit of a surprise.

MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams ranked Benintendi 15th on his list of top free agents, projected he would get $54 million over four years. The White Sox added a year onto that at an average annual value of $15 million, not $13.5 million. The market has escalated quickly since the Yankees agreed to give Judge $360 million over nine years, and the Sox paid a high price for Benintendi.

He’ll be reunited with new White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, who was on the coaching staff in Kansas City, where Benintendi played in 2021 and the first part of ’22. He no longer hits for power like he did early in his major league career but had a .373 on-base percentage last season and is a reliable fielder.

Improving defensively has been a stated priority for the White Sox, who allowed Jose Abreu to leave as a free agent so they could move the out-of-postion Andrew Vaughn from right field to first base. Benintendi was worth two Defensive Runs Saved in left field last season and overall is +32 there. He won a Gold Glove in ’21 and was an All-Star last season.

Benintendi’s best trait is how hard he makes pitchers work to get him out. He struck out only 14.8 percent of plate appearances last season, offering a grit the Sox lacked in finishing 11 games behind Cleveland last season. He hits the ball to all fields from the left side, with enough bat speed to cover triple-digit heat and pitch recognition to avoid being fooled by breaking pitches.

Because he reached the big leagues so quickly, he hit free agency in what should be peak seasons. He’ll only be 28 next season and 32 when the deal ends.

The $75 million agreement is the biggest in team history, replacing Yasmani Grandal’s $73 million contract. The Sox currently have $182.6 million on their running payroll, according to Cots Contracts, reinvesting the savings they received by allowing Abreu to leave.

The White Sox would have loved to have Benintendi at the start of his career. They hope he’ll prove to be worth the wait.