Mar. 4 -- BENSON'S LATEST STEP

So, none of the candidates for the final spot in the Phillies' starting rotation -- Adam Eaton, Chad Durbin or J.D. Durbin -- looked particularly good in their first spring-training appearance. Travis Blackley was impressive last week in a scoreless three-inning relief outing, and he threw three more scoreless innings in yesterday's B-game. But it still isn't clear if he's competing to be the No. 5 starter or a long man in the bullpen. And it's too early to start considering 20-year-old Carlos Carrasco, even though he has thrown four scoreless innings and generally looked like someone who is pitching to get his family out of Venezuela.

That brings us to Kris Benson.

Benson, who hasn't pitched since having shoulder surgery last March 20, may be the wild-card in the No. 5 starter battle. He hasn't pitched in a spring-training game yet, but after yesterday, that may be coming soon. Benson threw two 20-pitch batting practice sessions, meant to mimic two innings. Odds are, he'll throw BP once more before getting into an actual game, and while Benson appears to be about 10 days behind the rest of the pitchers, he could factor into the Phillies' rotation plans with a solid performance this month.

My guess (and, at this point, it's strictly a guess): Benson will open the season on the disabled list and make a few rehab starts in the minors. Barring any setbacks, and if he pitches well, he could be activated in late April or early May. If Eaton is struggling, Benson could be another option.

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By now, many of you have weighed in on Cole Hamels' contract situation. Many, many thanks for your thoughtful, as usual, opinions. If you haven't weighed in, it's not too late. The Blog is always open for business.

My take: Hard to side with Hamels on this one. He's an ultra-talented kid, and he's only going to get better. But he has never stayed healthy for a full season, not even in the minors, and he has been in the majors for less than two full seasons. And the Phillies' renewal offer ($500,000) was in line with what pitchers with similar resumes and service time have received over the past three seasons. It's more than Dontrelle Willis received from the Marlins in 2005, Scott Kazmir from the (Devil) Rays in 2006 and Chien-Ming Wang from the Yankees last year.

Wang, by the way, is a terrific comparison. He won 19 games in 2006 (Hamels' career-high is 15 wins) and made $489,000 in 2007. Instead of sulking, he won another 19 games last season, and despite losing his arbitration hearing last month, he'll make $4 million this season. If Hamels fulfills his potential and becomes the Cy Young candidate that he can be, he'll make at least $4 million in 2009, and nobody will be complaining about that.