Technically, the Chicago White Sox have enough outfield depth to survive Andrew Benintendi missing time with a broken hand.
Plus, with the way Benintendi is talking, he still plans on being ready for Opening Day.
"Hopefully it’s less than four weeks ... I want to be out there by Opening Day but time will tell.”
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 1, 2025
"I’m not worried at all ... There’s a time and a place to play through some stuff and right now is not the time."
Benintendi/Montgomery updates: https://t.co/6Cz6LFTYqz
Even if he does miss six weeks, with a quick rehab assignment, he should be back by mid-April. However, the White Sox front office would be doing the eventual 26-man roster a disservice by not entertaining adding another outfielder.
The simple reason is the White Sox should be looking for any potential offensive boost still on the free agent market.
Before a major run outburst today, the White Sox made hitting in spring training seem like it is an impossible task. That is a major concern considering the hitting should always be ahead of the pitching at this point in camp.
The Sox bats have one of the worst OPS among all MLB teams in spring training. Any lineup that has not had Luis Robert Jr. in it feels like something out of the movie Major League.
Despite some budget restrictions, general manager Chris Getz should still be on the lookout for any offensive help he can get.
Who cares if it is outfield where the Sox have a Austin Slater, Michael A. Taylor, and Mike Tauchman signed to big-league deals. This team is going to need some pop in the lineup
Let's face it, there should be no "sacred cows" on this roster after coming off a historic 121-losing season in 2024.
That is why the White Sox should try to bring in Alex Verdugo.
He is still 29 and in the short-term can provide some left-handed power while Benintendi is out. Plus, manager Will Venable wants some left-handed bats to counter the heavy right-handed group the team has now.
That is one reason the Sox are kicking the tires on Joey Gallo and maybe skewing the shortstop position battle to favor rookie Colson Montgomery.
Verdugo slashed .233/.291/.356 last season with 13 home runs for the New York Yankees. That .356 slugging percentage was his first sub .400 mark since 2018 and that is when he still in getting a cup of coffee with the big-league club stage of his career.
While he has yet to reach the 20-home run mark, he can hit double-digits in that department. Given the Sox could use help just getting the ball in the air, it is a better option than what they had with Gavin Sheets last season.
Verdugo's career splits against right-handed pitching are just a tick better than Benintendi's. Since both can hit lefties at a decent rate (at least the career numbers support it), you can rotate those two at DH as well since you do not have to bench one of them against a specific pitching arm.
The only reason you would have to bench either is if they are struggling at the plate like Benintendi did during the first half of the 2024 season.
Plus, Verdugo is a better defender. He had eight defensive runs saved last season in left and has a neutral career outs above average at that spot.
Former baseball executive Jim Bowden made the case for the Sox to sign Verdugo during the offseason so it is not like this is coming out of nowhere.
Although, Verdugo is still on the free agent market as he is hoping to return to New York.
On the Sox side of things, it comes down to cost and whether the team even has the budget considering how frugal the front office has been this offseason. You'll likely have a better chance seeing Corey Julks getting another run to start the season than seeing this Verdugo signing with the White Sox.