ESPN.com is reporting today the Yankees have Ben Sheets on their radar. He should be. He should be on most teams’ radars.
Sheets is 31 years old with a career ERA of 3.72. More impressive, however, is his career SO/BB of 3.85. When healthy, Sheets has top of the rotation kind of stuff. This is a guy who struck out 18 batters in a nine inning game before, don’t forget.
He missed all of 2009 due to recovery from elbow surgery. Having not played in over a year, Sheets is not deserving a massive contract. We’re talking a one year deal here with a base salary around $5 million and some incentives. Look at Rich Harden’s deal, for example, as a reference point. Harden is constantly injured, like Sheets. But he did not miss all of last season and is therefore slightly more deserving a larger base salary.
Sheets makes sense for a lot of teams. He’s not a guy the Rays should go after, but teams that lose out on Roy Halladay and John Lackey should give Sheets a look. As well, teams that need a fourth starter and have the financial flexibility to take a risk, i.e. the Yankees, should definitely give this guy a try.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Ben Sheets, New York Yankees, Rich Harden
I agree. He surely deserves some more attention.