Sunday: Did You Know . . . ? Kris Benson Edition

The arrival of Kris Benson marks yet another minor league deal the Rangers have completed in this blockbuster offseason. I am somewhat familiar with Benson, in that I knew he was once a highly regarded prospect in the Pirate's system. He fell off the map a few years ago, though, so if you are looking to catch up on the Kris Benson "buzz", here you go:

**Benson was the first overall pick out of Clemson University in the 1996 draft, selected by Pittsburgh

**His career statistics are here.

**He last pitched in the big leagues in 2006 with Baltimore, where he posted a 4.56 ERA, 183 IP, 11-12 W-L

**Baseball-reference.com lists his 5 most similar pitchers as Bronson Arroyo, Willard Nixon, Aaron Harang, Carl Pavano, and Adam Eaton. Benson also reminded me of our very own Jason Jennings. What do all these guys have in common? They tend to have average ERAs and eat up innings (when they are healthy). Most of them also have a nasty gopher-ball habit (see next point).

**In his last 2 full seasons in the big leagues (2005-2006 with the Mets and Orioles), Benson gave up an average of 28.5 HRs per season. Uh oh.

**Baltimore traded John Maine to the Mets to get Benson before the 2006 season. Whoops.

**Benson throws the three standard pitches, mixing in a cut fastball every now and then.

**The only things for which he has been ranked top 5 in the league over his career are for sacrifice hits (won't come in useful at all), complete games (ok, so this one isn't bad), losses (sigh), and home runs allowed (no comment).

**He once faced Kosuke Fukudome while the two played for their respective countries in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. You can watch it here.

**His wife is former Playboy model Anna Benson.

I can't recall an offseason with this many minor league signings of veteran players. My take on the situation is that the Rangers don't want to rush any of the talent in the minors in the event of an injury. If you remember, last year we had to resort to guys like Elizardo Ramirez. While guys like Jennings and Benson may not be great, it's better to fall back on them than someone like Ramirez, or to rush guys like Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz before they are ready. Benson's signing is a pretty low risk move all around, so it's hard to feel strongly in either direction. Let's hope he makes an impact for the Rangers or just stays in the minors.

Around the Horn: TR Sullivan has a funny story about Eddie Guardado in Spring Training; Ron Washington gives advice to Sweet Lou and the Cubs about Milton Bradley; Sports Illustrated takes a look at Nolan Ryan's influence so far;

First exhibition game is this Wednesday!