After trading for Andrew Benintendi last summer and only getting 33 games out of him because of a broken hamate bone, the Yankees hoped to see more of the outfielder over the next few years.
Instead, he is headed for the south side of Chicago.
Benintendi and the White Sox agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract on Friday, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported, eliminating one of the Yankees’ top options to fill their void in left field for next season.
“Benny’s a guy who came in here and fit in really well,” manager Aaron Boone said Friday at a holiday event at Yankee Stadium, minutes after news of the Benintendi deal broke. “Obviously got hurt and had his season shortened, especially when he was really starting to play well for us. Whatever the ending is, if that [the reports are] actually true, he’s a great player and was a really good teammate.”
General manager Brian Cashman had said he wanted to bring Benintendi back, with the Yankees valuing his left-handed bat and contact-oriented approach — something the team has largely been missing outside of DJ LeMahieu, when healthy — not to mention his Gold Glove defense in left field.
But now they will have to look elsewhere in an offseason in which they have landed the rest of their top targets in Aaron Judge, Carlos Rodon and Anthony Rizzo.
On the free-agent market, Michael Conforto and Michael Brantley are a pair of left-handed bats that could make sense in left field. Scott Boras, Conforto’s agent, said on Thursday that the former Met would be looking for a one or two-year deal with an opt-out as he looks to rebuild his value after sitting out all of last season because of a shoulder injury. Brantley, 35, also missed the majority of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The Yankees could also pursue a left fielder via trade, with the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds (who has requested a trade but is said to have a huge price tag) and the Twins’ Max Kepler among the potential candidates.
Internally, the Yankees have Aaron Hicks, who had a brutal 2022 season both offensively and defensively in his first year back from wrist surgery, and the versatile Oswaldo Cabrera, who started in left during the postseason. Asked if Cabrera could be an everyday left fielder next season, Boone showered praise on the 23-year-old.
“I think Cabrera could be an everyday a lot of things,” he said. “I love the player, I love his makeup. I think he showed this year that whatever situation you put him in, he’s equipped to handle it. I’ve said all along, I think he’s a guy we’re going to look up in 10-12 years and he’s had a really long, strong big-league career. I think this year he proved that he can potentially do that at a lot of different positions.”