Grading Andrew Benintendi's 2023 Chicago White Sox season

The Chicago White Sox made no good moves last off-season. We thought that signing Andrew Benintendi would prove to be a good decision because he has been great in the past but that was not the case.

The White Sox made Benintendi the highest-paid player in the history of the franchise in terms of total money on a contract. Nobody has ever signed a contract worth more than his 75 million dollars. He broke the record previously set by Yasmani Grandal.

All of this was for him to have a truly bad season. He is one of the biggest reasons that the White Sox were a horrific team this year. When you play poorly in the position that he is in, a prominent starting lineup-type player, you can't expect a whole lot of wins.

For one, he is expected to be a great left fielder in terms of defense. He has one Gold Glove Award on his mantle already. Unfortunately, you can legit argue that it would have been better to have Eloy Jimenez or Andrew Vaughn out there in left on a daily basis. He was awful.

The Chicago White Sox did not get enough from Andrew Benintendi.

As for the offense, he wasn't much better. He slashed .262/.326/.356 with an OPS of .682. He hit five home runs and had 45 RBIs to go with 72 runs scored. His WAR of 0.2 is not good enough at all for the contract that he has. For being the leadoff guy or second hitter playing in 151 games, it's just bad.

2023 Player Grade: F

It might not be fair to base his grade on his contract but being the highest-paid player in franchise history does mean something. Having a bad year in the first of five on the deal is not a good look. It doesn't mean he's a bad player but he had a terrible year in every way.

He gets an F because of all that but he might even be getting an F if he made the league minimum. The White Sox need a lot more from him over the next four years if he is ever going to be worth it.

2024 Outlook:

Benintendi is going to be on the 2024 Chicago White Sox making a lot of money. He will probably be the leadoff hitter if Tim Anderson is gone or the second hitter if he is there. It is clear that more is needed from him so a big off-season must be ahead for him.