Oakland GM Billy Beane is not known for spending high amounts on free agents, as Oakland is often a competitive team with a relatively low salary. This year, The A's decided to make a splash by signing former All Star pitcher Ben Sheets to a 1 year, $10 million deal. So far the performance of Sheets has come far from living up to his paycheck.
By signing Sheets, the Athletics took a gamble. Sure it was only a 1 year deal, but the $10 million the team invested in Sheets insured that if Sheets couldn't perform, the team would likely struggle.
Sheets has started 6 games and has a record of 1-3. His ERA is an abysmal 7.12 and has not lasted longer than 6.0 innings this season.
Sheets missed all of 2009 due to injury, and it was a surprise when he made such a large amount of money in free agency. The free agent market for pitching was slim and Sheets benefited from it. Remember, Ben Sheets once started the All Star game for the NL. But if Sheets wants to make money next year, he's really going to need to step up his game.
The Athletics currently have 8 men on the disabled list, and a pitching staff of mostly unknowns outside of Sheets and Justin Duscherer. If Sheets continues with his struggles, it is going to be up to guys like Gonzalez, Braden, and Cahill to pick up the slack and that sounds bad for A's fans. The Athletics are in the mix in the AL West now, but that can change very fast. Ben Sheets, welcome to the American League.
Some things to consider from Beane's perspective:
ReplyDelete- He can always trade Sheets in mid season. There's always some desperate team looking for a starter.
- If he doesn't trade him and he walks away next off season, the A's will reap compensational draft picks.
All of this is predicated on Sheets being decent. So far that's not the case. BTW - good decision by Omar on Sheets. Stay away!