Phils take a look at Benson

The Phillies who have stated time and time again that finding pitching is still a priority. In their effort to find more starting pitching the Phillies have turned to the bargain bin and free agent Kris Benson. I’m very conflicted about Benson. He has had only two good seasons in his seven-year career. Benson’s strike out rate is trending down and his homerun rate is trending up, which suggest that he is a pitcher whose performance will decline. Even worse he missed both the 2001 and 2007 seasons due to injury.

Despite all that Benson could still provide valuable depth. The Phillies have no fifth starter, Kyle Kendrick is unproven, and Jamie Moyer is older than time itself. For all those reasons it couldn’t hurt to sign Benson and either keep him in the minors or use him as a long man in the bullpen.