Royals manager Mike Matheny, left, congratulates Andrew Benintendi (16) after they beat the Angels on July 25, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. (Reed Hoffmann, AP)
The Chicago White Sox officially added an All-Star to their outfield Tuesday, announcing the signing of Andrew Benintendi.
The five-year, $75 million deal — first reported on Dec. 16 — is the largest contract in team history in terms of overall value.
Benintendi will receive a $3 million signing bonus, $8 million in 2023, $16.5 million each season from 2024 to 2026 and $14.5 million in 2027.
An introductory news conference with Benintendi and Sox manager Pedro Grifol is scheduled for Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Benintendi slashed .304/.373/.399 with 23 doubles, five home runs and 51 RBIs in 126 games for the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees in 2022, making the All-Star team for the first time. The left-handed hitter slashed .318/.388/.428 against right-handed pitching.
After getting traded to the Yankees on July 28, he suffered a broken right hand on Sept. 2 at Tampa Bay and missed the remainder of the season, including the postseason.
Benintendi will try to help the Sox rebound after they went 81-81 last season and missed the playoffs.
He’ll reunite with Grifol after the two were together in Kansas City, where Grifol held several roles from 2013-22, including bench coach the last three seasons.
Benintendi, 28, has a .279/.351/.431 career slash line with 169 doubles, 73 home runs and 384 RBIs in 745 games with the Boston Red Sox (2016-20), Royals (2021-22) and Yankees (’22). He had consecutive seasons with at least 40 doubles for the Red Sox in 2018 (41) and 2019 (40).
In 21 career postseason games, Benintendi has a .272/.322/.407 slash line with five doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and 18 runs. He was a member of the 2018 Red Sox World Series champions and slashed .333/.368/.389 with six runs in five games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He won the American League Gold Glove Award for left field in 2021 and will join 2020 Gold Glove center fielder Luis Robert in the Sox outfield. According to Fangraphs, Benintendi leads all major-league left fielders with 31 defensive runs saved since 2017.
Eloy Jiménez likely will be slotted as the designated hitter with Gavin Sheets and prospect Oscar Colás among the options in right field.
The previous largest contract in Sox history was given to catcher Yasmani Grandal, who signed a four-year, $73 million deal on Nov. 21, 2019.
()
Originally published at Tribune News Service