It’s been a busy week for the Yankees and White Sox.
Chicago took two of three from New York earlier this week at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Then the White Sox took former top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia off the Yankees’ hands Thursday by claiming the right-hander off waivers.
But don’t forget how the week started: with Yankees relief pitcher Keynan Middleton upsetting those on the South Side by blasting the culture around his former team.
Now we can add Andrew Benintendi’s voice to the mix.
The left-fielder, who had a cup of coffee with the Yankees last season, left the Bronx over the winter by signing a five-year, $75 million contract with the White Sox.
Benintendi addressed his new club’s culture concerns Wednesday after beating the Yankees, 9-2.
The one-time All-Star admitted Chicago’s lost season (the White Sox are 47-69 entering play Friday) is taking its toll on the clubhouse atmosphere.
“It’s something you’re always working on. And the more we talk about culture — obviously, it’s something important,” Benintendi said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
“But I feel like if you talk about it all the time, it’s kind of jammed down your throat, and it just has to happen organically. And these next two months, it’s something we can work on. It’s just getting better every day, getting closer to each other. The last week or so, it’s been better. It’s trending.”
Middleton sparked the war of words on Sunday when he was asked about returning to Chicago on Monday.
“Showing up was dark in Chicago this year,” Middleton said about the fourth-place White Sox. “It wasn’t very much fun most of the time. Just to be here in a different environment, different atmosphere, don’t have to worry about the BS.”
And that’s when things started to get interesting.
In a conversation Sunday with ESPN, Middleton opened up about the problems with the White Sox.
“I don’t know how you police the culture if there are no rules or guidelines to follow because everyone is doing their own thing,” he said. “Like, how do you say anything about it because there are no rules?
“You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs (pitcher fielding practices), and there are no consequences for any of this stuff.
“They say s— rolls downhill. I feel like some guys don’t want to speak up when they should have. It’s hard to police people when there are no rules.”
Middleton doubled down on his opinion Monday.
“I said what I said and I stand on that,” Middleton said. “I believe there’s a right way to go about business and do that. But I honestly don’t want to comment any more on it. I said what I said and I really truly feel that in my heart. But right now, my sole focus is being a Yankee and my future being a Yankee moving forward and making the playoffs.”
Cue White Sox management, who decided to fight back.
“I’ve been talking about culture here since day one and brought it up again about three or four weeks ago,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said, per ESPN. “I feel like we’re not even close to where we need to be, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
“I was surprised to see the report this morning,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. “At no point during the course of the year had there been a reliever sleeping in the bullpen during that game. That’s just wrong.”
Middleton has made three appearances since being acquired by the Yankees ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline, posting a 1.80 ERA.
As for Benintendi, he is struggling in his first season with the White Sox, hitting .272 with just two home runs in 108 games.
The Yankees acquired the Gold Glove Award winner ahead of the 2022 trade deadline in a deal with the Kansas City Royals.
Benintendi played in 33 regular-season games with New York, hitting .254 before going down with a broken wrist which forced him to miss the playoffs.