Dodgers hedging on pitcher Kris Benson

LAS VEGAS -- Former big-league pitcher Kris Benson is in Las Vegas looking for a job and says the Dodgers are among the teams offering one.

Benson, who won 10 or more games five times -- and lost 12 or more four times -- in seven seasons with the Pirates, Mets and Orioles, hasn't pitched in the big leagues since undergoing rotator cuff surgery early in 2007.

But Benson made 13 starts split between Single A and Triple A in the Philadelphia organization last summer to prove he's healthy (if not necessarily effective -- he went 1-6 with a 5.78 ERA).

Benson, 34, said the Indians and Blue Jays -- who, like the Dodgers, also need pitching -- expressed interest in inviting him to spring training as well.

-- Kevin Baxter

Photo: In July 2004, Kris Benson talked with catcher Mike Piazza. It was a game in which Benson allowed seven runs on seven hits in five innings. Credit: John Bazemore / Associated Press