No choice now... (Sheets extension)

[clancyphile]

With Gallardo's injury, Sheets must be extended. Offer him 4 years, $66M. There's just no alternative now.

 

 

Edit: Provided title clarification. - Toby

[adambr2]

I would like to extend Sheets, but I don't see the connection here. Sheets is a Brewer through this season, Gallardo will be back next season, and would be whether or not Sheets re-signs, so I guess I just don't see how Gallardo going down to injury is related to our need or desire to re-sign Sheets.

[Ennder]

This idea confuses me. The injury has nothing to do with next year so shouldnt' change anything.

[Blindcheck]

I am guessing that the post implies that this was the year to go for it...having seen Gallardo go down with an injury, the Brewers will need to focus the efforts on 2009.....With a healthy sheets and Gallardo.

 

Not necessarily my views, just trying to interpret the post.

[DuWayne Steurer]

That doesn't even make sense clancy. A guy gets hurt, so the answer (to which there is "no alternative") is to offer a crap load of money to a guy who gets hurt MORE often?

[Ennder]

Ok then I just disagree in general, next years team should be better than this years outside of Sheets/Gallardo. Parra, Villanueva will have full years of experience hopefully and our other minor league pitching will be closer to the majors. We lose some RP but the money is there to sign more stop gap arms. I don't see why we would change our position on Sheets becasue of the injury. I think Sheets is too big a risk to sign long term, it has little to do with Sheets himself and everything to do with the fact over 1 in 3 pitchers hit the DL every year. Signing a pitcher long term is so risky you can only really do it with someone with a perfect bill of health which very few pitchers hit FA with.

[Blindcheck]

I would really like to see Sheets a Brewer for the next four years, but not if it the signing ends up crippling the franchise....The Teddy Higuera signing in the late 80's had lingering effects on the Brewers for years.

[clancyphile]

That doesn't even make sense clancy. A guy gets hurt, so the answer (to which there is "no alternative") is to offer a crap load of money to a guy who gets hurt MORE often?

Sheets seems healthy this year, so far. The injuries in the past have been more freakish and not arm-related.

Just what will pitching an inning and two-thirds on that knee have done?

Are those guys in the minors going to be as good as Sheets/Gallardo on the mound?

At this juncture, NOT signing Sheets seems to be more risky.

 

[clancyphile]

I would really like to see Sheets a Brewer for the next four years, but not if it the signing ends up crippling the franchise....The Teddy Higuera signing in the late 80's had lingering effects on the Brewers for years.

Sheets hasn't been thrown into double-digit CG totals for multiple years.

The question is, if Sheets goes, who replaces him in the rotation? Dave Bush? Zach Jackson? Tim Dillard? Who?

[sbrylski]

"The key is we never get Yovani and Ben together," a disappointed Melvin said.

 

From the Brewers.com article. Doesn't sound like Benny's in the 2009 plans, no matter how much anyone hopes.

[brewers19]

It's not necessarily a forecast; he could be talking despondently about this and last season. Could go either way, really.

[berniebrewer4life]

"The key is we never get Yovani and Ben together," a disappointed Melvin said.

 

From the Brewers.com article. Doesn't sound like Benny's in the 2009 plans, no matter how much anyone hopes.

I saw that and thought the same thing. Hopefully we get Ben for one or two more years, but i doubt it.

[sbrylski]

It's not necessarily a forecast; he could be talking despondently about this and last season. Could go either way, really.

Good point, I didn't look at it that way. Even if he was saying they don't plan on resigning him, plans can change, or he might not be speaking honestly.

 

[brewmann04]

The one possible bright spot if the Brewers are at 500 come the deadline and Benny having a good year .Doug should be able to get a boatload of prospects

[brewers19]

So you suggest that if this team manages to keep its head above water in the first half of the season, Doug should inexplicably jettison the season by trading Sheets for prospects? The ensuing rotation would make this team the laughingstock of baseball.

[Gopher74]

With Gallardo's injury, Sheets must be extended. Offer him 4 years, $66M. There's just no alternative now.

 

 

Edit: Provided title clarification. - Toby

Frankly, I don't see what one has to do with the other right now?

Sheets isn't going to give us anymore this year with an extension and Gallardo's future doesn't seem to be in any doubt. It's an ACL. Cornerback's come back from this in a year now, so I have absolutely no doubt that Yo will come back.

 

What we need to address is a pitcher for this season. The one idea that I hate, but can't get out of my head is dealing Corey Hart seeing as how ready Matt LaPorta and Mat Gamel appear to be. Hell, you could bring them up and platoon them right now, and I have to believe that you're not going to see much of a drop off offensively from those two based on how they're killing it in AA.

 

Obviously we're talking about Hart for a long term solution, and that's a tough move to make, but perhaps a team like the D-rays who lost some of their great OF depth would be willing to work out a deal surrounding Scott Kazmir since they've got about 20 true aces on their way up?

This is a knee jerk reaction and one that's highly, highly unlikely to happen, but I just don't see how extending Sheets would help us right now.

[Gopher74]

Sheets seems healthy this year, so far. The injuries in the past have been more freakish and not arm-related.

Agreed. Still doesn't answer the question as to why this move means that you have to re-sign Sheets when before the move that doesn't appear to be your stance.

 

Just what will pitching an inning and two-thirds on that knee have done?

Nothing. AT least not according to the Brewers, and definitely not if his ACL was completely torn. But even if it made it worse, he'll still be back, at the latest by next year, the start of next year. It's not really like this is an unknown. It's a knee injury. If this was an elbow injury and you said "how much damage will pitching after you torn a ligament effect him", that'd make sense, but with a knee, it's either completely torn, or not, and if it is, as in this case, then he's out for about 9 months likely. Could be as little as 4-6 depending on how he heals(enough to play baseball that is), but it's definitely not like this puts his career in question. Only this season.

 

Are those guys in the minors going to be as good as Sheets/Gallardo on the mound?

Not likely. But that just means that no matter what you have to re-sign Sheets, not that all the sudden NOW as a result of Gallardo going down we have to.

 

At this juncture, NOT signing Sheets seems to be more risky.

 

Still not explaining why? This logic still doesn't make sense. And it's never going to be more risky to NOT-sign Ben Sheets. It's always going to be more of a risk to extend him long term. That doesn't mean you don't do it, at some point you have to take a risk in order to have it pay off, and Sheets is that type of situation. I'm not saying we should, but I am saying that I still don't understand the stance that NOW we have to re-sign Sheets to an extension, though I would like to.

[tigerbrew]

With Gallardo's injury, Sheets must be extended. Offer him 4 years, $66M. There's just no alternative now.

I do welcome a Sheets extension provided the price and years are right.

 

But considering the number of starts Sheets had missed the last 3 years, I think $16.5M a year is little too steep unless a big part of the money is tied to appearance and performance clauses, and 4 years maybe a little too long.

[NastyTwig]

We've got to extend Sheets, even if it means we ditch some of our young positional players when it's their time to get paid. It's a lot easier to find guys that can hit, then guys that have CY Young potential. Heck, we've already got two guys that look like the real deal down in Huntsville.

[BrewCrewForever]

I'm still gonna hold out hope we ca re-sign Sheets, and until he signs a contract with another team I won't think otherwise. I want Sheets and Gallardo together next season with Parra and Villy a year older and hopefully better in 2009.

[Fatter than Joey]

So you suggest that if this team manages to keep its head above water in the first half of the season, Doug should inexplicably jettison the season by trading Sheets for prospects? The ensuing rotation would make this team the laughingstock of baseball.

 

I agree -- Of course If we are 20 games back in July I'd look to move Sheets.... but not at this point.

[monty57]

What we need to address is a pitcher for this season. The one idea that I hate, but can't get out of my head is dealing Corey Hart seeing as how ready Matt LaPorta and Mat Gamel appear to be. Hell, you could bring them up and platoon them right now, and I have to believe that you're not going to see much of a drop off offensively from those two based on how they're killing it in AA.

 

I'd say Hardy would be the odd man out right now, as his replacements are also ready, and he's not as good as Hart. If another pitcher goes down for any length of time, we really don't have another starting pitching option, so we may have to do something drastic.

 

As far as signing Sheets long term, I don't think it's likely to happen (although I'd love to see it). I'm with the crowd that doesn't see how Gallardo going down changes the stance on Sheets, unless somehow Gallardo would come back as a lesser pitcher, which shouldn't happen with this injury.

[DoorCountyBadgers]

so you want to give $66 million to one who sits out 70% of the season on the IRL?

[PeaveyFury]

so you want to give $66 million to one who sits out 70% of the season on the IRL?

 

70% is a pretty big exaggeration. Assuming a normal starter makes about 32 starts in a complete season, Sheets in his seasons with injury issues (05-07) has still only missed 31%, 47%, and 25% of his starts, respectively.

[dlk9s]

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