03/12 21:17: Veteran right-hander Kris Benson threw for team officials on Friday and reached 90 miles per hour with his fastball.

According to Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthalof Fox Sports.com, the Diamondbacks will probably make a decision in the next 24 hours on what sort of deal to offer the 35-year-old Benson.

Brandon Webb’s status is worrisome for Arizona because the club has little depth at the other end of its rotation.  If Webb is out, Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy will probably occupy the top three spots, followed by some combination of Kevin Mulvey, Billy Buckner and Rodrigo Lopez and now possibly Benson.

03/12 13:25:Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic says that free agent right-handed pitcher Kris Benson threw a simulated game in Arizona today against Minor League hitters for five innings.

Piecoro mentioned that GM Josh Byrnes confirmed that Benson was in camp. It’s speculated that Benson did not throw very hard since Byrnes did not provide many details about his outing.

“He came here to work out and we certainly afforded him the opportunity,” Byrnes said. “Every club is always wanting to ensure pitching depth. It’s an evaluation worth doing. We’ll see how we proceed.”

It was rumored that in addition to the Diamondbacks, the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been interested in Benson.

Benson, 35, has only appeared in eight Major League games since 2006 because of arm and elbow injuries. In his eight games with the Texas Rangers last season, he was 1-1 with a 8.46 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. You can see Benson’s statistics here.