Phillies Acquire Erich Uelmen, Designate Vinny Nittoli
The Phillies have acquired right-hander Erich Uelmen from the Cubs in exchange for cash and opened a spot on the roster by designating fellow right-hander Vinny Nittoli for assignment, per a team announcement. Uelmen was designated for assignment by the Cubs when they finalized their deal to re-sign southpaw Drew Smyly.
Uelmen, 26, made his big league debut with the Cubs in 2022, pitching to a 4.67 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate against a 9.8% walk rate in 27 innings. He averaged 93.8 mph on his heater, generally kept the ball in the yard (1.00 HR/9) and posted an above-average 47.6% ground-ball rate in that time.
That marked the continuation of a solid showing in Triple-A, where Uelmen tossed 42 innings with a 2.79 ERA and a huge 55.3% ground-ball rate. He also fanned 29.1% of his opponents in Triple-A, but Uelmen’s 12.8% walk rate clearly left plenty to be desired. He has a full slate of three minor league option years remaining, and he was dominant against fellow right-handers in 2022, limiting them to a .206/.282/.326 output.
Lefties had more success at .234/.390/.318, but if he can rein in his command, Uelmen could be a serviceable option against hitters from both sides of the plate. That’s easier said than done, of course, and Uelmen has walked 11.2% of the batters he’s faced in Double-A, Triple-A and the Majors combined.
Nittoli, 32, reached the Majors for the first time in 2021 when he tossed one inning for the Mariners. It was a tiny sample but a notable one for the former 25th-round pick, as it capped off an eight-year grind to the big league level. He split the 2022 season between the Yankees, Blue Jays and Phillies organizations, with Toronto flipping him to Philadelphia in an August swap. The Phils selected Nittoli to the Majors when rosters expanded on Sept. 1 and got a pair of scoreless innings out of him during his brief time with the big league squad.
Nittoli posted a 3.81 ERA in 52 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees, Jays and Phillies in 2022, whiffing 30.8% of his opponents against a tidy 6.7% walk rate. He still has a minor league option year remaining, and the Phillies will now have a week to trade him or place him on outright waivers.
Guardians Sign Touki Toussaint, Cam Gallagher To Minor League Deals
The Guardians announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Touki Toussaint, catcher Cam Gallagher and righty Michael Kelly to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. Cleveland also confirmed its previously reported signing of outfielder Roman Quinn.
Toussaint, 26, is the most recognizable and most experienced name of the bunch. A former first-round draft pick (No. 16 overall, to the D-backs in 2014) and top-100 prospect in the sport, the 6’3″ righty was traded to the Braves and, for several years, was viewed as a potentially vital piece of the team’s most recent rebuilding cycle. It was easy enough to see why. Toussaint obliterated minor league lineups in 2018, pitching to a combined 2.38 ERA in 136 1/3 innings — including a 1.43 ERA in 50 innings during his Triple-A debut.
It’s been mostly downhill since that time, however. Toussaint was solid but wild in a 29-inning MLB debut late in the ’18 season, and he was clobbered both in Triple-A and in the Majors in 2019 (as were many pitchers in the juiced ball season). He allowed 24 runs in 24 1/3 innings during the shortened 2020 season, and Toussaint hasn’t really found his footing in either of the two subsequent seasons, despite a move to the bullpen and a change of scenery that sent him from Atlanta to Anaheim.
All in all, Toussaint has a 5.34 ERA in 170 1/3 big league innings. He’s punched out a solid 23.7% of his opponents and paired that with a solid 11.1% swinging-strike rate, but he’s also walked far too many hitters (13.6%) and been homer-prone more often than not (1.37 HR/9). His Triple-A work has been better, but not markedly so; in 160 innings he carries a 4.55 ERA with a 25.7% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate.
Gallagher, 30, has appeared in parts of six Major League seasons — all with the Royals. He’s primarily functioned as a glove-first backup to iron man Salvador Perez, never topping more than 142 plate appearances in a single big league season. He’s tallied just 469 trips to the plate during his time in the Majors, batting .240/.302/.355 overall. Gallagher draws plus marks for his framing and has registered 11 Defensive Runs Saved in 1136 career innings behind the plate, though he’s struggled a bit with the running game (20.6% caught-stealing rate in his career).
Also 30, Kelly made his Major League debut with the Phillies in 2022 when he tossed four innings of one-run ball with a 4-to-1 K/BB ratio. The longtime Padres farmhand has a spotty track record in the upper minors but had a big year with the Astros’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2021, pitching to a combined 2.70 ERA with a with a 29.5% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate. He was hit hard with the Phillies’ Triple-A club in 2022, but part of his unsightly 5.29 ERA can be chalked up to a sky-high .375 average on balls in play. Kelly also punched out better than 29% of his opponents for a second straight year in 2022.
Both Toussaint and Kelly will vie for bullpen spots this spring, though Cleveland has a deep and talented relief corps that might be tough to crack in the earlygoing. That said, either could be a fine depth option in the event of injuries. Gallagher will be behind each of Mike Zunino, Bo Naylor and Bryan Lavastida on the depth chart, as they’re all on the 40-man roster. He joins another former Royals backup, Meibrys Viloria, as catching depth in the upper minors.
Guardians, Roman Quinn Agree To Minor League Deal
The Guardians are in agreement on a minor league deal with fleet-footed outfielder Roman Quinn, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The Roc Nation Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training with his new organization.
Quinn, 29, was considered one of the Phillies’ top farmhands for several years but has never appeared in more than 50 games or reached 150 plate appearances in a big league season. He held his own in brief call-ups with the Phils back in 2016 and 2018, hitting a combined .261/.335/.388 through 212 plate appearances while going 15-for-20 in stolen base attempts. However, since that time, Quinn has turned in a combined .207/.286/.326 batting line in 157 games and 387 plate appearances in the Majors.
The switch-hitting Quinn split the 2022 season between the Phillies, Royals and Rays organizations, struggling on the whole but posting a respectable .262/.340/.405 slash in 47 plate appearances with Tampa Bay to close out the season. That said, Quinn fanned in 44.7% of his plate appearances with the Rays and was buoyed by a whopping .524 average on balls in play, so his small-sample production there looked far from sustainable.
Though he’s struggled in the Majors, Quinn has had success in the upper minors, slashing .296/.358/.435 in 592 Double-A plate appearances and .287/.370/.437 in 395 Triple-A plate appearances. His speed has been an asset in the outfield, where he can handle any of the three positions and has posted above-average defensive grades in 1269 big league innings.
Quinn’s speed-and-defense skill set fits the Guardians’ mold to an extent, though he’s not the type of contact-oriented hitter that Cleveland has stockpiled in recent seasons. He’s fanned in 30.4% of his Major League plate appearances — including an alarming 35.5% clip over the past three seasons (265 plate appearances).
The Guardians’ starting outfield appears largely set, with third-place Rookie of the Year finisher Steven Kwan in left field, fellow speedster Myles Straw in center and the quietly productive Oscar Gonzalez in right field. Both Will Brennan and Will Benson are on the 40-man roster as alternatives or potential bench options, and top prospect George Valera will start the season in Triple-A and hope to improve on a pedestrian showing in his debut at that level last season. (Valera did produce a more sobust .264/.367/.470 output in Double-A prior to his promotion and is still just 22 years of age.)
Given that plethora of outfield options, Quinn will be hard-pressed to crack Cleveland’s Opening Day roster, but he’s a nice depth option to have on hand in the event of an injury (particularly if Straw ends up needing to miss time in center).
The Opener: 1B Market, Yankees, MLBTR Chat
As the baseball world starts to wake back up, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on throughout the day:
1. 1B Market Update
There was some movement on the first base market yesterday, as Dominic Smith landed with the Nationals and Eric Hosmer appears to be headed to the Cubs. While many corners of the free agent market are running low on both suitors and options at this point, there are still several recognizable veteran names at first base. Trey Mancini is the top option remaining, but the likes of Luke Voit, Brandon Belt, and Miguel Sano all remain available to teams looking to make an addition. While both the Cubs and Nats were among the most obvious clubs for a first baseman, other teams still remain. The Orioles were known to have interest in Hosmer, while the Rays and Royals were in on Smith. The Marlins, Mariners, and Tigers are other teams for whom it could make sense to add another bat, though such an addition for any of these clubs would not necessarily need to come at first base.
2. Could the Yankees stand pat in left field?
The Yankees came into the offseason with the outfield as their most obvious hole, and while they’ve succeeded in retaining Aaron Judge, there’s still plenty of room for the club to make a second addition. Judge, Harrison Bader, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Aaron Hicks are the team’s current outfield options, and Giancarlo Stanton could potentially contribute on days he isn’t the team’s DH. There’s been a lot of talk throughout the offseason about who the team could add to play left field, but is it possible they’re content going into opening day with their current options? Cabrera was solid in a 44-game cup of coffee in 2022, batting .247/.312/.429 (111 wRC+) while splitting time between both outfield corners and all four infield spots. Meanwhile, Hicks is under contract for the next three seasons, so they may prefer to see if his value can bounce back in more of a part time role after a difficult season in 2022.
In addition to the options currently on the 40-man roster, the Yankees have loaded up on veteran outfield depth on minor league deals. Outfielders Michael Hermosillo, Willie Calhoun, and, most recently, Rafael Ortega have all landed deals to play in Scranton to start 2023. Any of them could prove to be plausible bench pieces for the big league club if the current position player mix suffers any losses, whether via injury or trade, before Opening Day. Ortega, in particular, posted a .265/.344/.408 line (108 wRC+) across 701 plate appearances with the Cubs during the 2021-22 seasons, and his left-handed bat could provide balance to a Yankees hitting corps currently dominated by righties.
3. MLBTR Chat Today
Yesterday, MLBTR’s Steve Adams fielded questions during a live chat (transcript here). If you still have unanswered questions about this offseason or the direction of your favorite team, you’re in luck, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco will be hosting another chat today at 5pm CT. You can submit a question in advance here, and you can use the same link to check back in this evening and participate live once the chat begins.
Pirates, Bryan Reynolds Had Been Roughly $50MM Apart In Extension Talks
The status of Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds is one of the top storylines of the offseason’s second half. Trade rumors surrounding the former All-Star are nothing new and they returned last month once Reynolds asked the club to deal him.
That trade request came after talks about a long-term extension between his camp and the Pirates fizzled out. The precise numbers under discussion at the time aren’t clear, although Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the club put forth an offer that would’ve topped the franchise-record $70MM guarantee that Ke’Bryan Hayes had secured last spring. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shed further light on the talks as part of a reader mailbag this week, reporting that Pittsburgh’s offer was roughly $50MM shy of what Reynolds and his representatives at CAA had sought.
That’d set a floor of approximately $120MM for Reynolds’ asking price, although it’s possible his camp was aiming higher than that. It’s not known how far above $70MM the Bucs offered. Mackey writes that Pittsburgh’s proposal involved fewer seasons than the eight years Hayes received, although Reynolds would obviously have pulled in more on an annual basis. That’s unsurprising considering Reynolds now has two more years of major league service than Hayes had at the time of his deal.
Reynolds, who turns 28 later this month, has between three and four years of big league service. He’s under contract for $6.75MM next season in what would’ve been his second year of arbitration. In the absence of a long-term deal, he’ll go through the arbitration process twice more before hitting free agency over the 2025-26 offseason.
Six players in that service bucket have signed extensions topping $70MM, with Sean Murphy joining that club last week. Just two players in the 3-4 year service class have reached $120MM, with Freddie Freeman holding the record on his $135MM deal with the Braves from the 2013-14 offseason. Freeman was nearly four years younger at the time of his deal than Reynolds is now and coming off a .319/.396/.501 showing in 2013 that rivals Reynolds’ career-best season from 2021.
Given the age discrepancy, one could certainly argue Freeman was a better long-term bet than Reynolds would be, although it’d also wouldn’t be surprising if the latter’s camp wanted to approach or beat that precedent. After all, the Freeman extension is now nearly nine years old. Matt Olson landed an eight-year, $168MM extension with the Braves going into his age-28 season last year. Olson was a year closer to free agency and coming off a .271/.371/.540 showing that topped Reynolds’ .262/.345/.461 mark from 2022. Reynolds seems unlikely to reach the heights Olson secured for those reasons, but that more recent deal leads credence to the idea the Pittsburgh outfielder had a case to easily beat nine figures.
That seems mostly theoretical so long as Reynolds remains a Pirate. There’s no indication the sides plan to reengage on a potential long-term deal after talks collapsed. However, it’s at least possible another club swings a trade for the center fielder and subsequently looks to reopen extension discussions.
Pittsburgh has maintained they don’t plan to move off a very lofty asking price in trade talks, Reynolds’ request notwithstanding. The Vanderbilt product has no recourse to force a trade. Jon Morosi of MLB.com suggested late last month Pittsburgh was targeting a high-end pitching prospect at the center of potential trade packages. It’s hard to imagine they’d rigidly require a deal being built around a young arm, although that at least serves as the latest reaffirmation GM Ben Cherington and his front office continue to aim high.
Nevertheless, Mackey suggests there’s a good chance the Bucs pull the trigger on a Reynolds trade at some point in 2023. Pittsburgh is still amidst a rebuild, and Reynolds is their most appealing trade candidate. They’re not under much financial pressure to make a move, although there’s certainly a case for the club to seriously entertain offers both this offseason and at next summer’s deadline — particularly now that hopes of an extension seem to have evaporated. Assuming he has another productive season, Reynolds would still have ample trade value by next offseason, although it’s unlikely Pittsburgh will find much stronger interest than there’ll be over the coming months considering his window of club control will only shrink.
Mariners, Jacob Nottingham Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners are signing catcher Jacob Nottingham to a minor league contract, according to his MLB.com transactions tracker. The right-handed hitter also spent part of the 2021 campaign in Seattle.
Nottingham played in the majors each season from 2018-21. He spent most of that time as a member of the Brewers, working as a bat-first depth catcher for his first few seasons. Nottingham exhausted his minor league option years by 2021, requiring teams to keep him on the MLB roster or make him available to other organizations. That led to a shuffle between Milwaukee and Seattle teams that each valued him as a depth catcher.
Within a one-month span early in that season, Nottingham yo-yoed between the two clubs. He went from Milwaukee to Seattle on waivers, was reacquired by the Brew Crew for cash a week and a half later, then landed back in Seattle on waivers a couple weeks thereafter. The series of transactions even partially inspired a change in the newest collective bargaining agreement; now, teams move to the back of the waiver priority on a player if they’ve already claimed him once before in that season.
Nottingham again found himself on the wire in early June 2021 after being designated for assignment by the Mariners. He cleared that time around and hasn’t played in the majors since then. He spent the remainder of that season in Triple-A and inked a minor league deal with the Orioles last winter. Nottingham spent the entire 2022 season with the O’s top affiliate in Norfolk, where he hit .229/.333/.425 through 354 plate appearances. He connected on 15 home runs while walking at a robust 10.5% clip but struck out in an elevated 27.7% of his trips.
The 27-year-old has shown a similar profile throughout his entire career. He’s a .250/.330/.412 hitter in parts of nine minor league seasons, showing decent power and patience but striking out at a 25.6% clip. Punchouts have also been a problem in his limited MLB looks, as he’s gone down on strikes in 38.5% of his 130 big league plate appearances. He’s a .184/.277/.421 hitter at the highest level.
Seattle has the duo of Cal Raleigh and Tom Murphy to serve as their catchers this year. Nottingham adds some upper level depth who won’t require an immediate 40-man roster spot, presumably heading to Triple-A Tacoma to open the season.
Twins Outright Mark Contreras
The Twins have sent outfielder Mark Contreras outright to Triple-A St. Paul after he went unclaimed on waivers, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. He’d been designated for assignment last month after the Twins finalized their one-year contract with Joey Gallo.
Contreras has spent his entire career in the Minnesota organization. A seventh-round draftee in 2017, he spent nearly five years climbing the minor league ladder. The Twins selected the UC Riverside product onto their 40-man roster last May. He held that spot for the rest of the season, although he continued to spend much of the year on optional assignment to St. Paul. Contreras got into 28 big league contests, hitting .121/.148/.293 with 21 strikeouts and only one walk in his first 61 plate appearances.
The 27-year-old (28 later this month) showed a fair bit better with the Saints. Contreras put up a .237/.317/.418 line through 423 Triple-A plate appearances last year. He connected on 15 home runs and 21 doubles while stealing 23 bases in only 25 attempts. The left-handed hitter showed an intriguing combination of power and athleticism, but swing-and-miss concerns eventually squeezed him off the roster. Contreras punched out in nearly 30% of his trips to the plate at the highest minor league level and he has a 27.9% strikeout percentage throughout his minor league career.
Contreras had never before been outrighted and has fewer than three years of major league service. That means he does not have the ability to refuse the assignment for free agency. He’ll stick in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he receives a non-roster invitation to big league Spring Training before heading back to St. Paul as outfield depth.
Yankees, Rafael Ortega Agree To Minor League Deal
The Yankees are in agreement with outfielder Rafael Ortega on a minor league contract, as first reported by Complete Baseball News (Twitter link). The veteran will presumably be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Ortega, 31, heads to the Bronx after two years as a Cub. Signed to a minor league contract over the 2020-21 offseason, he cracked the big league roster in late May of 2021. Ortega would go to appear in 103 games for Chicago that year, hitting .291/.360/.463. An elevated .349 batting average on balls in play propped up those impressive results, though it was still a strong enough showing for Ortega to hold his roster spot through the offseason.
While the lefty-hitting Ortega predictably couldn’t quite maintain his 2021 production, he had another solid year. He got into a career-high 118 games last season, picking up 371 trips to the dish. Ortega hit .241/.331/.358, production just a hair worse than league average. He didn’t make much of an impact from a power perspective, hitting only seven home runs with a slightly below-average 33.5% hard contact rate. Yet he earned some extended run at the top of the Chicago lineup thanks to quality strikeout and walk marks. He drew free passes at a very strong 11.9% clip against a modest 19.9% strikeout rate, resulting in an on-base percentage nearly 20 points higher than league average even as his BABIP took the expected step back.
Despite his decent two-year run, Ortega didn’t hold his spot on the Chicago roster this time around. The Cubs non-tendered him rather than retain him on an arbitration salary projected at $1.7MM. Without finding a big league deal in free agency, he’ll now have to work his way back onto an MLB roster in order to appear at the highest level for a seventh season.
Ortega has ample experience at all three outfield positions. Public metrics have pegged him as a slightly below-average center fielder but given him solid marks in the corners. The Yankees have a question in left field, where Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Cabrera seem like the current favorites for playing time. Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader are locked into the other two outfield spots if healthy, though Ortega profiles as a quality depth option in the event Bader or one of the other outfielders misses time to injury.
Mets Sign T.J. McFarland To Minor League Deal
The Mets have signed left-hander T.J. McFarland to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. McFarland has been assigned to Triple-A Syracuse for now but will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
McFarland, 34 in June, has pitched in each of the last 10 MLB seasons, spending time with the Orioles, Diamondbacks, A’s and Cardinals. He never racks up huge amounts of strikeouts but succeeds by generally avoiding walks and keeping the ball on the ground. For his career, he’s struck out just 13.5 percent of batters faced, barely half of the usual league average, which was 23.6 percent for relievers in 2022. But he’s gotten worm burners on 62.1 percent of balls in play, well beyond last year’s 43.5 percent average.
Though a grounder-heavy approach can certainly be a recipe for success, it also can leave a pitcher vulnerable to getting tossed around by the wheel of fortune. With the Cardinals in 2021, McFarland posted a 2.56 ERA with rate stats similar to his career numbers. In 2022, back with the Cards again, his grounder rate dropped to 53 percent after being at 63.7 the year before. His batting average on balls in play also leaped from .261 to .333 and his strand rate went from 81.5 to 60.4 percent. That caused his ERA to more than double up to 6.61.
For the Mets, they’ve been trying to patch together a bullpen for 2023 after Edwin Díaz, Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodríguez and Mychal Givens all became free agents after 2022. Díaz and Ottavino have since been re-signed, while they’ve also acquired Brooks Raley and signed David Robertson. In terms of lefties, assuming Joey Lucchesi and David Peterson will be working as starters, that leaves Raley and Tayler Saucedo as the primary southpaw relievers. The addition of McFarland will give them some veteran depth without using up a roster spot for now.
White Sox Sign Andrew Benintendi
January 3: The White Sox have officially announced the Benintendi signing and provided a specific contract breakdown. The outfielder will receive a $3MM signing bonus, followed by an $8MM salary in 2023, $16.5MM for the next three years and then $14.5MM in 2027. The club’s 40-man roster is now at 39.
December 16: The White Sox have agreed to a five-year contract with free-agent outfielder Andrew Benintendi, reports ESPN’s Jesse Rogers (via Twitter). Benintendi, a client of Excel Sports Management, will be guaranteed $75MM on the contract, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Benintendi, 28, was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Red Sox and ranked as the sport’s No. 1 prospect at Baseball America, ESPN and MLB.com prior to his big league debut. The runner up to Aaron Judge for American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2017, he turned in a brilliant .290/.366/.465 batting line with 18 home runs and 21 steals a year later in 2018, seemingly setting the stage for him to break out into full blown stardom.
That never really transpired, however. Four full seasons have gone by since that time, and Benintendi has instead settled in as a solid regular in left field but not the perennial All-Star he looked to be early in his big league tenure. He’ll typically hit for average, draw plenty of walks and play good defense — Benintendi won a Gold Glove in 2021 — but he’s never settled in as a consistent power threat. Benintendi’s 20 home runs in 2017 still stand as his career high, and he hit just five home runs in 521 plate appearances between the Royals and Yankees in 2022 before a fractured hamate in his wrist ended his season.
Over the past four seasons, Benintendi has posted a combined .276/.345/.417 batting line with 35 home runs and 27 steals. He’s always been tough to strike out, but never more so than in 2022, when he fanned in just 14.8% of his plate appearances. It’s possible Benintendi took a more conservative, contact-oriented approach that resulted both in him hitting fewer home runs but also putting the ball in play with more frequency. Regardless, the lack of punchouts likely appealed to a White Sox club that posted the seventh-lowest strikeout rate in all of baseball last year and watched as the Guardians won the AL Central with by far the game’s lowest strikeout rate.
A corner outfielder and left-handed bat to help balance out a heavily right-handed club were both clear needs for the South Siders, and Benintendi can check both boxes. He’ll hit at or near the top of the lineup, with Eloy Jimenez like sliding into a primary DH role now that Benintendi is on board. The Sox also bid farewell to stalwart first baseman Jose Abreu this offseason, which cleared the way for Andrew Vaughn to move from right field, where he ranked as one of MLB’s worst defenders at any position, to his natural position of first base.
Removing Vaughn and Jimenez from regular outfield work would’ve improved the outfield defense regardless of the replacements, but plugging Benintendi into the mix provides a substantial upgrade. In 5775 career innings in left field, he’s been credited with 32 Defensive Runs Saved. It’s notable that Statcast’s Outs Above Average feels quite differently, pegging Benintendi at -15 in that same time, although that’s skewed by one -10 season in 2019 (a season that DRS agrees was below average from a defensive standpoint). Benintendi and center fielder Luis Robert give the Sox a pair of above-average defenders in the outfield, although if the plan for right field is to use Gavin Sheets as a bridge to prospect Oscar Colas, at least one of the three outfield spots will still have the potential to be a defensive liability.
The White Sox opened the 2022 season with a club record $193MM payroll, and the addition of Benintendi figures to put them right back into that range again. Benintendi also pushes Chicago’s luxury-tax ledger a bit north of $205MM, per Roster Resource, though that’s still $28MM from the $233MM first tier of penalization. The Sox could still use help at second base and could stand to deepen their bench, so it’s likely that subsequent moves will push the team to a franchise-record payroll for a second season (barring a trade that sheds a current contract).
Somewhat remarkably, the $75MM guarantee gives Benintendi the largest contract in White Sox franchise history, narrowly topping Yasmani Grandal, who’d held the record at $73MM. The ChiSox have offered more than this in some high-profile free agent pursuits in recent years, most notably offering more than $200MM to Manny Machado and more than $100MM to Zack Wheeler. Both players, of course, ultimately signed elsewhere.