Following Ben Sheets [was "Sheets: 0 IP, 8 H, 9 ER on March 15th"]

[sheethead]

No weight whatsoever?

[1992casey]

I wouldn't put any weight on the box score stats. I'd rather know how a pitcher performed relative to the goals the manager, coaches, and the pitcher himself set for a particular game.

[MarquesJohnson2000]

I don't know when the 4 ip, 1ER outing was but it wasn't 3/25

 

 

In his second-to-last appearance before the regular season, Sheets gave up three runs, nine hits (including three doubles and a homer) and a walk in six innings in the Triple-A game at Papago Park. He also struck out three.

 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi...1CLH9G.DTL#ixzz0jJNm2zsq

[InsomniacInkRoss]

I should say "very very little" weight on spring pitching stats, especially with my boy Sheets.

 

March 20th was was 4 inning outing vs. the Cubbies

[ELCABALLO45]

According to the MLB.com schedule. Ben Sheets will be starting opening day for the A's.

[Polish Falcons]

6 shutout innings for Sheets tonight, 2.65 ERA after 3 starts.

Looks like perhaps we're starting to see there was absolutely no meaning behind that spring training headline in the subject header.

I don't mind the Brewers saying goodbye at $10m+, but I'm rooting for the guy. I watched part of his performance tonight and he looked stellar.

[dlk9s]

I'm rooting for him, too. He'll always be a Brewer in my book. Hope the A's make it to the World Series.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

That's good signature fodder. Walks are bit high for Ben so far, being a career 3.78 SO/BB guy.

[Dragonbait]

The only problem I have with him doing well is those casual fans who think Melvin screw'd up by not signing him..

 

That being said... I hope he does well... Guys like Sheeter, Jenkins, guys who played hard knowing they'd have

a slim chance of winning here, Those are the guys I hope get their chance at a ring... (Jenks got his)

[RoseBowlMtg]

Do you think Sheets would help the Brewers more this year than Doug Davis will? 8.75 mil for Davis and 10 mil for Sheets for a 1 yr contract where Oakland can trade him and get 2 top picks. I agree it was a tough decision but Melvin could have brought Sheets back. Some times you need to move on but....

[endaround]

How do you get $8.75m for Davis? Its $4.25m plus a $1m buyout.

[jjfanec]

Do you think Sheets would help the Brewers more this year than Doug Davis will? 8.75 mil for Davis and 10 mil for Sheets for a 1 yr contract where Oakland can trade him and get 2 top picks. I agree it was a tough decision but Melvin could have brought Sheets back. Some times you need to move on but....

What do you mean trade him and get two top picks? Do you mean teams would trade two top prospects for Sheets? That will only happen if he pitches great.

[owbc]

I have not yet seen Sheets pitch, but he is 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 IP. He does have 10 walks, which is only one less than he threw in 106 innings in 2007. The stats suggest that he is still a little shaky but generally back on the right track.

[jhart05]

Hope so, I need him back in my Replay computer game league.

[RoseBowlMtg]

I got the 8.75 off a google search so I stand corrected. That is the way Oakland is looking at this deal with him. Hopefully he pitches well then they lose him to FA as a type A or a contender would want him since you know the motto: When healthy.... They don't say that about many pitchers and who on the Brewers do they say that about. I understand not taking the risk but I believe we would be a better team with Sheets over Davis.

[RockCoCougars]

The only problem I have with him doing well is those casual fans who think Melvin screw'd up by not signing him..

 

That being said... I hope he does well... Guys like Sheeter, Jenkins, guys who played hard knowing they'd have

a slim chance of winning here, Those are the guys I hope get their chance at a ring... (Jenks got his)

Well, I don't consider myself a casual fan, and I think Melvin really blew it not resigning Sheets. The money used to sign Suppan should have been used to extend Sheets for 3 years. It's easy to Monday morning QB the injury Sheets had, but even with the injury and missing a full year, he would have been much more productive than Suppan. I still think that Sheets will go down as 'this generation's Molitor', in that he had bad luck with injuries here and then achieved tons of success- injury free elsewhere.

[Ennder]

Well I don't think those two things are really connected in any way. Most people would like them to have not signed Suppan, they were talking about Sheets or Davis. I think those two contracts are a bit of a wash and I'm not much of a Davis fan. Regardless of where the money went the Suppan deal is hurting the team, don't think anyone will argue with that.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

This is where I think Doug Melvin and Ted Thompson sometimes trip over themselves and their ego. 150 IP at 3.25 ERA with 50 IP at replacement level (IMHO) is worth more than 4.75 ERA at 200 IP. Sheeter obviously had injury issues, but you can't tell me that he wasn't worth what we paid Hawkins + Davis.

 

Stetter + Sheets > Davis + Hawkins, and it isn't even close even when you consider Ben's injury history

 

Melvin has done alot of good things, but his handling of Sheets was deja vu of a Sal Bando type move

[naivin]

Melvin has done alot of good things, but his handling of Sheets was deja vu of a Sal Bando type move

You can say that, but what exactly are you suggesting, that they should have re-signed him prior to last season? If not, I'm not sure why Melvin should be considered having done anything any differently than every other team but Oakland. Once he left and sat out last season, the Brewers frankly have no more connection to him than any other team. Maybe less in fact.

[RockCoCougars]

You can say that, but what exactly are you suggesting, that they should have re-signed him prior to last season? If not, I'm not sure why Melvin should be considered having done anything any differently than every other team but Oakland. Once he left and sat out last season, the Brewers frankly have no more connection to him than any other team. Maybe less in fact.

The comment 'maybe less in fact' actually does a good job at pinpointing why Melvin is at fault here. Say what you want about Sheets, but he was probably the best pitcher this franchise ever developed. After he signed his last extension, he had a few fluky injuries that were just bad luck. Because of these injuries, he got the undeserved reputation as unreliable and/or injury prone. In the meantime Melvin threw $40 some million at a guy who has about 1/10 the talent of Sheets, while refusing to negotiate a contract extension with Sheets because he was 'unreliable'. Sheets then went out and started the All-Star game, hurt his arm a month or so later, tried to pitch through it, likely hurting it more, and then tried to come back again to help the team the final weekend of the season and was booed off the mound by stupid fans. For some reason, Sheets was lazy and out of shape, but Suppan gets a free pass (he's not missing any meals).

 

If Sheets didn't want to come back, I can't blame him, but Melvin made absolutely no effort to retain him, apparently because he's a health risk- instead pursuing guys like Randy Wolf (who has a TJ surgery on his resume), and Doug Davis (cancer survivor).

[InsomniacInkRoss]

I had the K and BB swapped in my signature, shame on me.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I've said it a thousand times. Melvin is great at taking an awful franchise and making them decent, but he is absolutely the wrong choice to lead this organization to taking the next step.

 

Sheets signed a ONE year deal. That was extremely low risk. We had the money to spend this offseason, and we used it on gutter fodder... How would signing Sheets for $8.5M and then having him flop or get hurt be any worse than our Gagne signing a few years ago?

 

Our pitching is still awful, and i have a very hard time seeing this team break 80 wins this season

[TooLiveBrew]

Sheets signed for $10M this offseason. There's very little indication that he wanted anything to do with the Brewers.

[endaround]

Wolf has outpitched Sheets so far this season:

 

Wolf's FIP 4.49, xFIP 4.00

 

Sheets' FIP 4.69 xFIP 5.69

 

Unless Sheets gets his control back soon his ERA won't stay under 3 very long.

[CheezWizHed]

Wolf has outpitched Sheets so far this season:

 

Wolf's FIP 4.49, xFIP 4.00

 

Sheets' FIP 4.69 xFIP 5.69

 

Unless Sheets gets his control back soon his ERA won't stay under 3 very long.

Does FIP and xFIP take into account the AL vs NL difference (i.e. facing the DH)?

 

With a 1.71 WHIP, I'd agree with your last statement...