What's the deal with Ben Sheets?
The ideal situation for Sheets and for teams to sign Sheets would be organizations with big money and already pretty solid staffs. Like the Yanks, Sox, Cubs etc. If he goes down it's not the end of the world and you can eat the salary. (Even though the longer we get into the winter, the less likely it is for him to sign for big money or long term). Not only is the ability to take the salary hit important, but the fact that you have an already solid staff helps as well. So why not take a chance on him? I you can get a 1 or 2 year latent incentive deal on him it's a can't miss. Sure, you may get a Carl Pavano situation where he never pitches but I doubt that would happen. I also understand both the Yankees and Red Sox have health question marks as it is, John Smoltz, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughs and the Cubs would much rather a solid 30 starts a year guy but still, the risk is a lot lower then the reward. If any of these teams can keep Sheets healthy, specifically in September and October, you have a recipe for destruction and domination. I would even go as far to saying that those teams make more sense then the Mets.
I'm sure the Mets would prefer a guy like Lowe, doesn't miss starts and always gives you 200 innings. So the Mets best bet if they can't resign Perez may be going through a trade. Either way, I hope Sheets doesn't end up on a team with no shot for a playoff push. When he's healthy he is fun to watch and I hope to see what he can do in October. Moral of the story is that despite it being mid January there is still a lot of action out there in the baseball world. A lot of action.
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