DETROIT, MI – JULY 25: A detailed view of a San Diego Padres baseball hat and glove sitting in the dugout during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 25, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Padres 12-4. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The San Diego Padres are looking to retool after a brief playoff run and another championship for their arch rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres reached the playoffs for the second straight season, but they haven’t won the National League since before the turn of the century. And their manager Mike Shildt will have to be replaced after his decision to call it quits.
Now the Padres will be looking to bring in some new free agents and execute some trades that can help propel them to more postseason success next season. And the organization started making its offseason moves with a harsh decision for 32-year-old pitcher Wes Benjamin.
Benjamin was released by the team’s Triple-A affiliate on Monday, according to the Minor League Baseball transactions log. The lefty struggled in his sole season with the Padres’ organization, posting a 6.42 ERA across 22 starts for the El Paso Chihuahuas, but he showed some compelling promise when he was named as the Pacific Coast League (PCL) Pitcher of the Week earlier this year.
“He was honored by the PCL for holding Round Rock to 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks with 6 strikeouts over 7 innings in a Chihuahua’s’ win,” according to Bill Center of FriarWire. “Signed by the Padres last offseason out of the Korean League, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound 32-year-old is 3–7 on the season with a save in 23 games (20 starts).”
Benjamin also earned the league’s Truly Nolen Player of the Week award for that outing. But it seems the Padres didn’t feel like they could build on that standout start as they opted to cut ties with him just after the World Series concluded.
Benjamin has two years of big-league experience with the Texas Rangers and a 6.80 ERA across 21 total games in the majors. But he spent eight years in the Rangers organization in total after it drafted him in the fifth round in 2014.
When the Padres signed Benjamin earlier this year following several seasons in South Korea’s KBO League, it seemed as if he’d be given a chance to resume his big-league career.
“San Diego hasn’t added 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,” Anthony Franco wrote for MLB Trade Rumors at the time.
In the end, however, it seems like the Padres won’t be giving Benjamin a shot to take a major-league mound again after all.