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Will Benson

Guardians Select Will Benson

By Mark Polishuk | August 1, 2022 at 7:29pm CDT

The Guardians have selected Will Benson’s contract from Triple-A Columbus, putting the outfielder in line to make his Major League debut.  In corresponding moves, outfielder Alex Call was optioned to Triple-A, while Anthony Gose was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Benson was selected 14th overall by Cleveland in the 2016 draft, but after posting decent but unspectacular numbers in the minors, his prospect stock gradually fell to the point that neither MLB Pipelin or Baseball America list Benson as one of the Guards’ top 30 minor leaguers.  However, Benson seems to have turned a corner in his sixth pro season, and is hitting .279/.426/.522 with 17 home runs over 401 plate appearances in Columbus this year.

While this production comes with the caveat of a .340 BABIP, Benson’s 22.7% strikeout rate is far and away a career low, and is a good sign that the 24-year-old has corrected a longstanding issue in making consistent contact.  If this problem has really been solved, Benson can now better unlock his natural power and bat speed, and might even have some five-tool potential.  Benson also has a strong throwing arm that has mostly placed him in right field throughout his career (but he has seen time in left and center as well), and he has good speed that has allowed him to steal 86 bases in 108 opportunities.

The outfield has long been a weak link in Cleveland, yet the Guardians have now established Steven Kwan and Myles Straw as everyday options in left and center field.  Right field is still a question mark, but top prospect Nolan Jones and the unheralded Oscar Gonzalez have both played well at the position, with Franmil Reyes, Josh Naylor, and Kwan also getting a handful of games in right.  Gonzalez is on a minor league rehab assignment after missing a month due to an intercostal strain, so it is possible Benson might just be a short-term callup until Gonzalez is healthy.

In terms of other lineup openings, Naylor has been slowed by a balky ankle lately, though he is healthy enough to DH.  Reyes has seen the bulk of DH action but he also struggled for much of the 2022 season.  If the Guardians wanted more pop in the lineup, Reyes might lose playing time for other players getting rotated into the DH role, which could create more opportunity for a youngster like Benson to establish himself.

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Cleveland Guardians Transactions Alex Call Anthony Gose Will Benson

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Indians To Sign First-Rounder Will Benson

By Steve Adams | June 17, 2016 at 9:30am CDT

The Indians have agreed to terms with first-round pick Will Benson on a $2.5MM signing bonus, reports Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (via Twitter). That figure comes in $473,700 south of the No. 14 slot’s assigned value, so Cleveland will pick up some savings that can be applied further down its draft board.

A high school outfielder out of Georgia, Benson entered the draft ranked as the No. 30 prospect on Baseball America’s Top 500 list. He placed 38th on the Top 200 from Mayo and colleague Jim Callis over at MLB.com, and ESPN’s Keith Law had him rated 41st on his Top 100 ranking. The 6’6″, 220-pound Benson has “arguably the best bat speed in the class” and plus-plus raw power, per BA’s scouting report. He also has a strong arm and plus speed but is described by BA as a “boom or bust” prospect due to an aggressive approach at the plate. ESPN’s Eric Longenhagen writes that Benson’s swing has “considerable effort” and writes that a player of his size will almost certainly have to move to first base as he continues to fill out. MLB.com writes that he didn’t have a great spring and often tries to do too much at the plate, but he has plenty of offensive upside.

Cleveland entered the draft with a total signing pool of $7,499,600 (via Callis at MLB.com), so the Benson savings will amount to about six percent of their entire pool, and they’ll be left with just a hair under $5MM to allocate to the remainder of their picks. Those savings could be allocated in large part to second-round pick Nolan Jones — a high school third baseman and Virgina commit that was projected by some to go in the first round but slid to Cleveland at No. 55 overall.

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2016 Amateur Draft 2016 Amateur Draft Signings Cleveland Guardians Will Benson

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