There is no benefit to having them as currently implemented. The difference between a poorly hit ball that drops for a hit or a poorly hit ball that a fielder trips and doesn't get to or a poorly hit ball that the fielder muffs is no difference at all. Yeah thats my issue with it, whats the difference between a blooper that squeezes in vs. a well struck grounder that a fielder plays off his mitt? The whole idea of the error introduces this strange moral element about whether the hitter "deserves" to be on base or whether the fielder "should" have gotten it. It totally warps how we think about defense too. Its just an archaic relic and we shouldn't have them, but I don't expect we'll ever get rid of them anytime soon. a well struck ball off a mitt is often credited as a hit