Phillies Rumors: Club reportedly close to signing reliever Benoit

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor  

Matt Klentak and the Philadelphia Phillies head into this week’s winter meetings looking for some upgrades in the bullpen and they are reportedly close to signing 39-year-old veteran right-hander Joaquin Benoit, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.

The team is close to signing veteran reliever Joaquin Benoit, sources tell CSNPhilly.com. The winter meetings officially begin on Monday. The signing is expected to be announced before the meetings end on Thursday.

Benoit is a 15-year Major League veteran and spent the 2016 season with both the Mariners and the Blue Jays, posting a combined 3-1 record to go along with a 2.81 ERA in 51 games. He was very impressive in the second half of the season, sporting a 1.37 ERA in 28 games, spanning 26.1 innings.

While Benoit has been a setup man for the majority of his career, he could be a consideration for closer’s role heading into next season along with Jeanmar Gomez and Hector Neris. Gomez was the ninth inning man for the majority of 2016, but stumbled towards the end of the season while Neris provided setup services, posting a 2.58 ERA in 79 games, featuring a sharp splitter in his arsenal.

The Phillies started their offseason by acquiring right-hander Pat Neshek from the Astros and recently claimed David Rollins off of waivers, so if the Benoit deal goes through, the teams’ bullpen could have some really nice options heading into Spring Training.