The New York Yankees may be on the verge of dropping out of the Ben Sheets (pictured) sweepstakes. - Scott Ableman/Flickr.comThings I learned on Friday: (a) the human body -- or my body, at least -- was never designed to wake up before 6:00 a.m., and (b) taking a nap in the middle of the evening tends to produce some pretty trippy sensations. There's nothing quite like being stirred from a deep slumber and experiencing that fleeting moment of tranquility where you have no recollection of where you are, who you are, or what day, week or month it is, and none of that matters because you don't care.

And then you wake up.

● So, remember that help the Texas Rangers needed from Andy Pettitte? According to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, they're about to get it:

The return of free-agent left-hander Andy Pettitte to the Yankees is "virtually inevitable," according to a source with knowledge of the pitcher's intentions. While a deal is not imminent, it is believed that the two sides will eventually come to an agreement on a one-year deal.

...and, as a predictable consequence (according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post)...

Keep hearing from multiple sources that the Yankees will have nothing to do with Ben Sheets.

Newsday's Jim Baumbach affirmed New York's medically-driven lack of interest in Sheets on Friday, while Rosenthal asserted that the signing of Pettitte would effectively end the Yankees' pursuit of another free-agent starting pitcher.

Curiously, it is also written that Pettitte has attracted no other "serious interest," across the league, which provides compelling anecdotal evidence to back up the prevailing theory that the three-year, $36 million offer Pettitte allegedly field from an unnamed team was nothing more than a fabrication on the part of his handlers designed to drive up the value of the Yankees' bid. No luck so far.

Rosenthal also went on record on Friday in predicting that Texas will ultimately manage to wrangle Sheets, which provokes an interesting point: if the Rangers were attempting to temper fan expectations at the beginning of the off-season by proclaiming that the purported static nature of the payroll would preclude a major signing, they've failed to see that stance through, because Texas has now emerged as the perceived, if not de facto front-runner in what will now be dubbed the Sheets Sweepstakes, and the overall sentiment of the fan base will not be benefited if the Rangers are narrowly outbid by another team (such as the freshly jilted Braves, who could now conceivably move on from the nasty, drawn-out Rafael Furcal public relations skirmish and pursue Sheets as a rotation reinforcement), or -- even worse -- neglect to submit a formal offer.

Now, is satiating the fan base the ultimate goal? Of course not; winning a World Series is. But it's a consideration if you're desperately attempting to resurrect slumping attendance totals, and Sheets undoubtedly helps you win more games, and that all ties back into the concept of what he could offer the Rangers in terms of both on-the-field value (actually winning games) and revenue-generating value (drawing fans to the Ballpark that otherwise wouldn't bother to catch a Kevin Millwood or Vicente Padilla start in person, as well as drawing more fans because the club is actually winning more games).

But we've run this topic into the ground enough already.

● Veteran free-agent right-hander Tim Redding, whom the Rangers had reportedly emerged as an "aggressive suitor" for in recent days (according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post), could nab a multi-year deal from the Mets if general manager Omar Minaya acquiesces to Redding's demands for a two-year contract.

The expression "pinnacle of mediocrity" pops to mind when reviewing Redding's career statistics; he boasts a magnificently uninspiring lifetime ERA+ of 88, and it's highly improbable his homer- and fly ball-heavy tendencies and apparent inability to strike out more than six batters per nine innings (!) would translate all that well to a more difficult home ballpark and league.

Did I neglect to mention he's also set to command no less than $3 million in 2009, and perhaps more than that?

● The Rangers have promoted manager of baseball operations Jake Krug to the role of East Coast crosschecker, moved mid-Atlantic area scout Russ Ardolina -- the scout responsible for the signings of prospects Michael Ballard and Neil Ramirez, among others -- and minor league pitching coach Mike Anderson to the professional scouting department, and have hired Pedro Avila -- who was involved in the Mariners' signing of Felix Hernandez -- as their Venezuelan scouting supervisor, in addition to several other lateral and minor moves in the scouting department which can be viewed in detail here.

Matt Walbeck will manage the Double-A Altoona Curve (Pirates) in 2009.

● Catcher Max Ramirez might be hitting .250/.357/.564 with 12 home runs in just 163 at-bats for the fourth-place Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan Winter League, but disturbing questions over his ultimate defensive upside linger, as noted by Baseball America's Ben Badler earlier this week:

Ramirez, who has had an OBP above .400 in each of the last four seasons, lacks even average defensive tools. Many scouts doubt whether some of the things he does are correctable, particularly his lack of athleticism behind the plate, stiff hands and 45 arm.

[Editor's note: Ramirez's caught-stealing rate of 24.7 percent (19-for-77) was the seventh-worst mark out of 55 qualifying minor league catchers who had at least 50 stolen base attempts cumulatively logged against them in full-season leagues in 2008.]

● Finally, the money shot (so to speak) from Minor League Ball's John Sickels, who just published his top 24 Rangers prospects list -- featuring three players at the top with grades of 'A-' or better (Neftali Feliz, Justin Smoak and Elvis Andrus), which are extremely difficult to come by if you're at all familiar with John's grading methodology -- and is actively soliciting suggestions for a 25th prospect:

The Rangers have three of the best prospects in baseball, several others who project as major league regulars, and a whole bevy of Grade C+ type guys, some of them breakout candidates for higher grades next year. I love the way they have run this farm system in recent years: they have mixed raw and polished talent in the draft, and have made a big push in Latin America. The Rangers are looking at every source of talent: college, high school, other countries, guys with tools, guys with skills. The result is a system with both depth and breadth, and the future of this organization is quite bright.

Excellent.