Joaquin Benoit is making a comeback

FOXSports.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports that Joaquin Benoit is making a comeback after sitting out all of last season following shoulder surgery. Benoit pitched eight seasons in Texas after signing with the Rangers out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager, but he’s now a free agent and Morosi notes a “handful of teams” are interested. He struggled in 2008 before going under the knife, but Benoit had a 3.80 ERA with 250 strikeouts versus just 205 hits allowed in 248.2 innings from 2005-2007. When healthy he featured a low-90s fastball/mid-80s slider combo that was very tough to hit. In fact, during that three-year span the only relievers to toss 200 innings with a lower opponents’ batting average than Benoit were Joe Nathan, Francisco Rodriguez, Billy Wagner, J.J. Putz, Brian Fuentes, Scot Shields, Rafael Betancourt, and Mariano Rivera. As a 32-year-old coming off major arm surgery Benoit may simply be finished, but he’d definitely be a worthwhile flier for teams with some middle-relief openings.