Oswalt Recruiting Sheets

[Mass Haas]

Recruiting Sheets

Roy Oswalt promises to deliver yet another recruiting pitch to Milwaukee Brewers righthander Ben Sheets, who is expected to be one of the top pitchers on the free-agent market this winter.

"Yeah, this is the last time we see him," Oswalt said. "I'm going to say something to him and see where he's at."

Oswalt and Sheets are close friends, dating to their time together on the American baseball team that won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.

Lance Berkman also wants Sheets to know his presence would be appreciated in Houston.

"I'd love to have him," Berkman said of Sheets, who will start for the Brewers tonight against the Astros.

[fondybrewfan]

I will be devastated if Sheets lands anywhere in the NL Central. If you are going to leave Ben please please go the AL. I am trying to stay optimistic about resigning him but it is becoming increasingly difficult. A part of me hopes to wake up some morning and see breaking news saying that Sheets signed an extension but that just isn't going to happen no matter how much I want it to.

[JohnBriggs12]

I noticed Berkman and Sheets together in the All Star dugout too. They've been working on him for a while.

 

Sheets to Houston makes that team very, very dangerous.

[homer]

It makes sense too. Sheets is from Louisiana - Houston is as close to home as he's going to get.

[Invader3K]

Couldn't this technically be considered tampering on the part of the Astros?

[endaround]

Unless the players are acting on behalf of the front office, no. And of course Houston has a decent chance to finish below .500 which means no 1st round pick.

[dadofandrew]

I've had Sheets going to ATL for a couple years, but HOU is close as well.

[brewerguy71]

I have felt that ever since that early season series at Houston, when Sheets had his family at the games, that Houston would be a good fit for him. The Rangers would be a good fit for him as well. Both teams can afford and probably would be willing to spend the money on Sheets.

I would be afraid as a pitcher throwing in that park though.

Is there any truth to the rumors that Ben is kind of a womanizer though? Might not be a good idea for him to return close to home if that is the case.

[joepepsi]

I always figured he'd end up in Boston. I've always felt his career path, talent, and drive mimicked Schilling. He's such a poor hitter you'd think he is better suited in the AL.

[splitterpfj]

I've thought Houston was the most likely spot for Ben for some time now. It's the closest team to his family, it's a huge market, with an owner who has already shown his willingness to overpay free agents, and that team has multiple holes to fill in its starting rotation.

 

If you'd give 100 million to Carlos Lee, why wouldn't you go all-out for Ben Sheets?

[jeffy]

He's such a poor hitter you'd think he is better suited in the AL.

 

Yeah, Sheets would be more valuable to an AL team and CC to NL. I really hope CC does not land in the Central. I think the reality is poor hitting will not hurt Sheets chances of getting signed by an NL team, but good hitting will increase CC's chances of doing so.

[davego]

I was hoping for the Ham-Fighters.

[bklynbrewcrew]

This is exactly why the Brewers messed up big time in not trying to sign Sheets before he becomes a free agent. He clearly likes playing in Milwaukee and would have been willing to stay if we offered a fair contract. Unfortunately he probably feels slighted that we have made no attempt to sign him and he will probably leave for that reason. Its gonna be a sad day when Ben Sheets signs with another team.

[Ennder]

If Sheets doesn't have to face Berkman his ERA probably goes down a good 0.50!

[joepepsi]

If Sheets doesn't have to face Berkman his ERA probably goes down a good 0.50!

Gadzooks! You got that right! Here's Lance's career line against Ben in 73 plate appearances:

5hrs, 18rbis, .328/.370/.672--1.042OPS.

 

Of course he has a 1.382OPs against Suppan......

 

[dadofandrew]

MLBTR guesses 3-4 years, $16-17M per.

 

I want no part of that. None.

 

With his injuries, he is not likely to age well, to say the least.

[craigharmann]

I really wouldn't be surprised if Houston makes a big run at Sheets. A combo of Oswalt/Sheets is pretty tough. But we'll see what the off season brings.

[1992casey]

I've figured that Houston might be a destination for Sheets ever since he became ill with vestibular neuritis there and his family happened to be in town to stick around with him.

 

I wouldn't think he'd opt for a Boston or New York. I get the impression that he'd rather eschew the huge markets. I could see him possibly choosing a California team, though.

[fondybrewfan]

There was a reason the Brewers didn't offer a contract extension in the offseason. I sure as heck wouldn't offer another 4 years to a guy that in the previous 3 years hadn't been able to stay off of the disabled list.

 

If this year had actually happened last year I am sure a contract would have been offered. I think the odds of Sheets signing a contract extension last year was doubtful at best. If he did stay healthy this year he would stand to make way more money in FA then he ever would ahve if he signed an extension. And if he didn't stay healthy some stupid team would throw money at him anyways.

[joepepsi]

MLBTR guesses 3-4 years, $16-17M per.

 

I want no part of that. None.

 

With his injuries, he is not likely to age well, to say the least.

I don't agree. The thing is, his injuries haven't been serious pitching injuries. He doesn't have a torn labrum, he hasn't had TJ surgery. Pulling a hamstring, breaking a finger, those are injuries that can happen to any player at any time. I guess the shoulder injury and resulting scar tissue problems the following year can be considered pitching related, but he's had no effects from that for two seasons.

 

[Invader3K]

MLBTR guesses 3-4 years, $16-17M per.

 

I want no part of that. None.

 

With his injuries, he is not likely to age well, to say the least.

I agree. It's just too risky. I would rather see the Brewers make an all out effort to sign Sabathia to a big contract, but I know that is extremely unlikely to happen. Hopefully there will be some good safe options for the Brewers in either the trade or free agency market this off-season.

[JohnBriggs12]

I think the Brewers could afford $16-17 million over 4 years. That's about the top level they could spend on any one player. The question is whether they'd spend it on Sheets or not. It's a tough call given his history and the fact he's never won more than 12 games (I know it's not all his fault but still, a guy with his stuff sooner or later needs to put up 17 or 18 wins). I hate spending big money for mediocrity (like they did with Suppan). It's a lot easier finding average production from pre-arby talent than it is finding top of the rotation pitching.

 

There are guys that will be available for around that price. Burnett is pretty similar to Sheets both in production, age and health. I would guess he'd get around those same numbers. Dempster is another who's in that age range who off this season is likely to cash in around those numbers. The benefit of getting him would be taking him away from Cubs but he hasn't been a starter over an extended period. Oliver Perez is a little younger and lefthanded but has a career of a wide variance in his performance.

 

Then there's bargain hunting. If the Dodgers let Penny go, is his health worth taking a risk on? Derek Lowe has never been a number 1 but he's got great consistency and durability and might come at a discount in years and dollars because he's a little older. And what about Jon Garland? Basically a solid number 3 and still young enough that 4 years makes sense. Or if the Yankees get Sabathia, does a year or two of Mike Mussina make any sense?

 

In short once you get past Sabathia and even Sheets, there's still a lot of guys out there. With 3 million fans in 08, Attanasio is going to feel pressure to bring somebody in to replace one of the two he figures to lose.

[rluzinski]

Signing any 30 year old pitcher with a lot of innings to a 4 year year deal is risky. I'm fine with a team never doing it. That said, I don't think that Sheets' odds of missing significant time going forward is much worse than the average 30 year old starting pitcher. I'm sure that there will be plenty of other teams that will agree.

[Invader3K]

I don't think there's any question Attanasio won't spend money again this off-season. He has shown that he's willing to spend plenty to put the team in contention. It's just a question of how much the Brewers can spend after this year, and who will realistically be available. I think you laid out some good alternatives, JohnBriggs.

 

One exciting, but at the same time somewhat scary, concept is that we could be looking at a _very_ different Brewers team in 2009. We could likely see a couple new starting pitchers, probably a very different bullpen, possibly a new CF and/or 3B, etc. And of course, depending on how the rest of this year goes, we may have a new manager this off-season. Doug Melvin is going to have his work cut out for him (assuming _he_ is still here, too).

[homer]

I'm more worried about his reduced K rate than his injuries.