Ex-Red Sox Fan Favorite Signs Big Deal With White Sox, Ending Reunion Hopes

Boston will not bring back on of their most beloved former players

Scott Neville | Dec 16, 2022

Ex-Red Sox Fan Favorite Signs Big Deal With White Sox, Ending Reunion Hopes /

In this story:

One of the top free agents left on the market reportedly is off the board -- and he happens to be a once prominent member of the Boston Red Sox.

A former fan favorite, who has bounced around in recent years, has found what he hopes to be his new home for the foreseeable future.

Outfielder Andrew Benintendi signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the Chicago White Sox according to ESPN's Jesse Rodgers and Jeff Passan.

The 28-year-old slugger revamped his swing in recent years to improve his contact ability -- and now is getting rewarded despite a decline in power.

Benny hit .304 with 31 extra-base hits including five home runs, 51 RBIs and a .722 OPS in 126 games between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees last season. It was the first All-Star campaign of his career, though it ended with a wrist injury that kept him out of the postseason.

Many thought, or were at least hoping that Benintendi could be a leadoff candidate for the Red Sox next season. The team has struggled to find someone to fit said role since the departures of both Benintendi and Mookie Betts.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom chose to roll the dice with Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida on a five-year, $90 million deal instead.

If Benny turns out to be a more productive player during the same stretch, you can bank on the Red Sox front office hearing about it.

There's no guarantee that Benintendi would've even considered a return after being dealt prior to the 2021 season, but fans aren't always the most logical in that respect.

While it's more of a gamble, Yoshida fits what the Red Sox need more than Benny. Boston's group of Alex Verdugo, Kiké Hernandez, Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran combined for just 26 home runs last year. Benny would only add five more to the list.

Yoshida hit 21 home runs last season in the Nippon Professional Baseball league on top of stellar offensive production across the board.

We'll have to wait and see if his ability translates to the major league level, but Yoshida makes more sense than Benintendi, even if the latter was beloved in Boston.

More MLB: Yankees Sign Ex-Red Sox Hurler To Bolster Pitching Depth For 2023 Season

Published Dec 16, 2022

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu