The Padres signed left-hander Wes Benjamin to a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to MLB Spring Training, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The southpaw has already reported to camp with San Diego.
Benjamin returns stateside after a three-year run in South Korea with the KT Wiz. The 31-year-old had a generally solid run in the KBO, turning in a 3.74 earned run average in a little more than 400 innings. His ERA successively climbed in each season, finishing at a less impressive 4.63 mark over 28 starts last year. Benjamin topped 150 strikeouts in each of the past two seasons, including a solid 24.4% strikeout rate last year.
Before his move to Korea, Benjamin spent eight years in the Rangers organization. Texas drafted him in the fifth round in 2014 out of the University of Kansas. He made 21 big league appearances (mostly in low-leverage relief) between 2020-21. Benjamin allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine across 45 innings. He posted a near-6.00 ERA over parts of three Triple-A seasons, as well, though he managed a 3.82 mark across seven starts for the White Sox’s top affiliate in 2022 before catching on with the KBO team on a midseason deal.
The Padres seem likely to keep Benjamin stretched out as rotation depth. They filled the final two spots with late free agent pickups of Nick Pivetta and another KBO returnee, Kyle Hart. That nudges Randy Vásquez, Matt Waldron and reliever conversion Stephen Kolek into depth roles. San Diego hasn’t added any much experienced rotation depth to camp on minor league deals, so it’s a decent landing spot for Benjamin as he tries to get back to the majors for the first time in four years.
AJ had to get his annual former Ranger. But MLB is running out of dudes that were in the Rangers 11 years ago.
The most surprising move was Profar not signing back with the Padres. Preller and Profar go way back, and Profar always has success wherever AJ Preller goes.
Pro got paid, and good for him! Hope he does great in the ATL, except when we play them of course! Welcome back to AJ’s team, Wes!
Is Profar hurt? He hasn’t played in spring training yet.
Profar cost too much for ownership
Need pitchers for El Paso. The Padres best pitching prospects would likely be promoted from AA. Pitching in the PCL would scar them for life.
Adding depth to a 78 win roster
That confirms what we all suspected, wannabee… you’re just a Dodger fan pretending to be a Padre fan!
Dyslexia is a hellva condition left unchecked. It’s 87.
I am a Dodger fan pretending to be a Dodger fan.
I’m a fan pretending to be a glass of IPA
Nah. Padre fan pretending to be a Giants fan. So weird.
It must be weird being foppert? I do like both teams, but fan of game first.
Nah. The Giants fan claim is weird. Zero evidence.
As for foppert. Sometimes. For sure.
You’re a Giants fan right? I can’t keep track.
I played two years in SF system, later worked in SF and was a season ticket holder at the stick from 1991-1993. But I grew up in SD watching Nate and Cito and Randy, in my 40s moved back to SD, married into a Padre family. Our kids are diehard. But a person can be a fan of more than one team. I like 3 or 4 NBA teams, can’t really pick a one favorite.
I will admit though fops, if there were playing against each other in playoffs, I’d go with SD and not just to avoid eviction.
You bet I am.
Yeah I know the story. Still weird to me. Might be a cultural thing. We tend to pick and stick down here.
All Padres and Giants have one important thing in common
All Padres and Giants fans have one thing in common I mean
A common enemy ?
yep.
To quote Denny Green… you are who we thought you were, Sal! Cheers bub
To the uninitiated:
azcardinals.com/video/dennis-green-blows-up-after-…
A pitcher…keep adding them, we can sort through them later!
The KBO-to-MLB Pipeline Is Overvalued for Pitchers. Benjamin’s signing isn’t just a depth move—it’s a symptom of San Diego’s flawed approach to pitching acquisitions. They are taking unnecessary risks on unproven arms rather than investing in reliable options, which could cost them later in the season when real contenders separate themselves with stable rotations.
Just a non-roster invite, so I don’t see much of a risk. They’ve invested in some proven arms for the rotation (Cease, King, Darvish, Pivetta) and it’s not uncommon for a team to develop some #5/6 SP competition (Kolek, Hart Waldron, Vasquez, Brito, etc….) while rolling the dice with depth pieces that they can work with in the minors during the season while waiting on some of the prospects to develop (like Bateman, Mayfield, Bergert, Baez, Lizarraga).
Padres
Cease/King/Darvish/Pivetta/Waldron or Vasquez
Rule V draftee Juan Nunez will have to stick or be sent back
AAA Depth
Hart*/Kolek*/Brito*/Cruz/Bergert/Krob/Benjamin*/Patino*(bullpen?)
AA Depth that is MLB ready or close to ready
Baez/Nett/Lizarraga/Knehr* (AAA)/Wolf* (AAA)
* = MLB experience
Preller has built incredible pitching depth and done it inexpensively.
@Brew’88
You’re focusing too much on the lack of risk rather than the complete lack of upside. Signing Benjamin isn’t about building #5/6 starter competition—he’s filler at best, not a legitimate depth piece. His declining KBO numbers (ERA rising each year, 4.63 last season) suggest he’s regressing rather than improving, which is the opposite of what you’d want from an MLB depth signing.
Meanwhile, the Padres are already thin at the back of the rotation, relying on unproven options like Kolek (a converted reliever), Hart (another KBO returnee), and Waldron (who hasn’t proven he can stick as a starter). If this was a team with a deep, durable rotation, a flier like Benjamin wouldn’t matter. But in San Diego’s situation, it exposes a real issue—they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel when they should be bolstering the back end with more reliable options. Depth isn’t just about having bodies; it’s about having functional depth.
You are focusing on the alcohol in your system instead of the facts.
@Pads Fans
What facts are you presenting? I’m providing a proper argument.
@Old York I wasn’t focusing on the risk parameter, I responded to your post where you highlighted that signing Benjamin is an example of the Pads taking on unnecessary risk. I was merely answering to that.
I agree he’s not likely the answer at the ML rotation, but they must see something in his recent years in Korea to want to take a closer look. And with a very young group of SP prospects in the system, having depth at AAA is a good thing.
We’ll know more about guys like Hart and Kolek at end of ST, maybe AJ isn’t done adding SPs
No you aren’t.
I did.
Go back to your bottle.
Minor league signing so there is no symptom of anything. Its a signing to fill the roster in El Paso.
Exactly what reliable options would you have preferred they sign to play in AAA?
@Pads Fans
That’s a misread of the situation. If this was just a “fill the El Paso roster” move, then why sign a declining 31-year-old instead of someone with a plausible path back to the majors? The Padres’ rotation lacks stability beyond the top few arms, and the real issue here is that they’re taking a “quantity over quality” approach to depth.
If the goal was simply to add AAA depth, there were better arms available—guys with recent MLB success or high-upside reclamation potential. Instead, they’re investing in a pitcher who has already struggled at the MLB level, saw diminishing results overseas, and isn’t a logical candidate to improve at this stage. That’s not depth; it’s wasting a roster spot.
Wrong. As usual. Why do you do nothing but troll? Does it fulfill some need you have? Does it stem from your over indulgence in alcohol?
What part of minor league deal do you not understand? Oh, EVERYTHING! Thanks. GTFOH.
Good signing. He had a nice run overseas.
31-18, ERA under 4.00 in 74 starts in the KBO. Solid numbers but like with Hart, it’s hard to see if they will translate here
There shouldn’t be a comma before “as well.” Literally no reason for this.