(670 The Score) New White Sox manager Pedro Grifol believes newly signed outfielder Andrew Benintendi is exactly the club needed after it was too often one-dimensional in 2022.
“He’s a very versatile player,” Grifol said. “As far as where we hit him in the lineup, he’s done everything in the game. He’s hit for average. He’s hit for some power. He definitely runs the bases well. He fits really well into what we’re trying to do here.
“He fits perfect. He fits perfect in this ballclub. He fits perfect in this park. He’s exactly what we were looking for this offseason.”
On Wednesday, the White Sox introduced Benintendi to the Chicago media, a day after he officially signed a five-year, $75-million deal. Benintendi will make $8 million in 2023, $16.5 million each season from 2024-’26 and then $14.5 million in 2027 to go along with a $3-million signing bonus.
Benintendi, 28, hit .304 with five homers, 51 RBIs and a .772 OPS in 126 games in 2022, when he split time between the Royals and Yankees and earned All-Star honors for the first time. He played under Grifol in Kansas City in 2021 and for much of 2022, as Grifol was most recently the Royals’ bench coach.
Benintendi cited his relationship with Grifol as one of the draws to Chicago.
“The thing for me is from day one of the offseason, there was communication,” Benintendi said of his dialogue with White Sox officials. “There was constant interest throughout the entire process.”
Benintendi will be the everyday left fielder for the White Sox, who expect him to help improve what was a poor defense in 2022. He has hit .279 with a .351 on-base percentage in his seven-year MLB career, and prior to his dip in his home run total in 2022, Benintendi had showcased more power. He averaged 16.5 homers per season from 2017-’21, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
“I’m trying to become a complete hitter,” Benintendi said. “I think playing in this stadium (Guaranteed Rate Field), a lot of those long flyouts will turn into doubles and home runs without even trying to change anything.
Whatever the team needs me to do, whatever kind of player they need me to be, that’s what I’ll try to be.”
White Sox general manager Rick Hahn echoed Grifol’s comments about how Benintendi will fit in with the club.
“His profile both offensively and defensively we thought were great complements to what we already had and what we projected to break the season come Opening Day,” Hahn told reporters Tuesday evening. “A guy who obviously is not just left-handed, but gives you a tough AB, can grind it out, put up solid on-base numbers toward the top of the lineup and as well improve ourselves from an outfield defense standpoint. He really fit in a lot of different ways that we were looking to improve ourselves.”
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