Surveying The Ben Sheets Market
Free-agent right-hander Ben Sheets (pictured) may be running out of time -- and suitors.The latest on where the Texas Rangers -- indisputably the most ardent suitors of free-agent right-hander Ben Sheets -- currently stand relative to the competition:
Texas: The sanguine tone imparted in the Saturday morning edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with regard to the Rangers potentially nearing a preliminary agreement with Sheets has essentially dissipated (for the moment, at least), with beat writer Jeff Wilson now asserting that "lingering concerns" over the state of his right elbow could preclude the completion of a deal, and that, in any event, the prospects of an agreement being struck by Monday -- if at all this week -- were dwindling.
The plurality of the Rangers' apprehension over Sheets still appears to be centered on the torn right flexor tendon injury he sustained last September, which continues to give the organization understandable cause for hesitation. Club officials reportedly want to gather more recent and relevant medical information before blindly proceeding -- a pragmatic and commonsensical approach that should presumably aid the construction of a fair, yet competitive offer, but could come back to bite Texas if negotiations should drag on and another of the teams interested in Sheets's services elects to up the ante.
One potential complicating factor: A high-ranking contingent of Rangers officials -- including general manager Jon Daniels -- will embark on its annual trip to the club's baseball academy in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic this week, and while that shouldn't forestall additional conversations between Texas and Sheets's agent, Casey Close, it's exceedingly doubtful that the Rangers would attempt to close any deal without having the entirety of their front-office brain trust readily accessible.
T.R. Sullivan's assessment of the situation largely mirrors Jeff Wilson's ("A marriage may seem inevitable, but the process is moving slowly and a resolution is not likely to come about anytime soon"), though Sullivan also suggests that Texas would prefer a one-year deal, possibly with a second-year team option attached, and that wouldn't seem to make near as much sense for the Rangers as a two-year deal with a third-year team option built in would, given that the odds of Texas securing a playoff berth in 2009 would still be marginal even with Sheets headlining the starting rotation.
New York (AL): MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reported on Saturday that the Yankees continue to discuss the possibility of free-agent left-hander Andy Pettitte reprising his role in pinstripes in 2009 with his representatives, Randy and Alan Hendricks, but neither side has yet proven willing to yield to the other's demands, and it is for that reason that New York continues to maintain fallback interest in Sheets; nevertheless, it remains difficult to imagine Pettitte fielding offers comparable in guaranteed value to the Yankees' one-year, $10 million proposal (Astros owner Drayton McLane told the Associated Press on Friday that he didn't believe Houston would throw its hat in the ring for Pettitte's services), and a reunion still seems inevitable.
New York (NL): The Mets have evidently deemed the securement of free-agent left-hander Oliver Perez their top priority, adding either more guaranteed money or an additional year to their standing three-year, $30 million offer -- and, presumably to the chagrin of Casey Close, have never really expressed serious interest in Sheets regardless.
Los Angeles (NL): According to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark, the Dodgers have set their sights on the free-agent triumvirate of Randy Wolf, Jon Garland and Braden Looper, and hope to sign one arm from that group in the next few days. Notably, Los Angeles has neglected to express even cursory interest in Sheets this off-season.
Milwaukee: When queried last week whether the Brewers might yet bring back Sheets, general manager Doug Melvin emphatically stated that "it doesn't appear that it's going to happen."
Some variation of "Will Texas ultimately get this done?" is still the overriding question plaguing everyone, to which my answer remains a tentative "Yes." It's becoming increasingly clear why the Rangers have strived to maintain such a noncommittal stance with respect to legitimately pursuing top-tier free agent talent this winter, however, for fan expectations have been subject to a dramatic metamorphosis over the last several days as the media has enthusiastically descended on the Sheets-to-Texas story, and, as a result, anything less than the successful acquisition of Sheets is now probably going to engender undesirable backlash against the organization -- deserved or otherwise.
7 Comments | in The Off-Season
Reader Comments (7)
I wouldn't even mind our paying for a year of pure recovery this year for a couple club option years in '10 and '11, but a simple one year deal, guaranteed or not, makes no sense for a team in the last year (the show-n-tell stage) of its all- out development.
Why would fans get upset if Sheets signs elsewhere? Its not like FA pitchers haven't used Texas in the past to get a better deal from someone else. I think he ultimately signs with the Rangers. Probably a 1yr deal with an option.
Joey, you seem a little too eager to use ten-dolllar vocabulary words. I applaud you for knowing so many multi-syllable (and not-so-frequently-used) words, but they actually get in the way when you are trying to make your point. Focus on the steak, and stop trying to distract me with the sizzle.
Theory:
The one year bit is a negotiating ploy and the Rangers will eventually sign him to a two-year deal with a vesting option for a 3rd year. If another team ups the ante, the Rangers would be willing to go a 2nd year. I just don't see any other team being serious about Sheets right now, so there's no urgency. The Mets will sign Perez soon, the Yankees have been very patient waiting on Pettite. It would be quite a surprise to me for another team to swoop in.
Note to Marcus the Filthy: I did not even notice any $10 words until you mentioned it. Maybe you're just too used to $2 writing.
Marcus: It's true that I have been guilty as charged of going over the top in that regard before, and I do try to use such colorful words in moderation. Perhaps this was one of those times, and if so I must profusely apologize, but I made the points I wanted to make, and I have no intentions of altering my writing style.
Rob: I don't believe that the fan base will automatically be incensed if the Rangers miss out on Sheets -- if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, and if that's the scenario that indeed unfolds, I suspect it will come about because the Rangers couldn't comfortably reconcile the financial and medical risks with the potential rewards. Monitoring the assorted message boards and such, however, I'm increasingly getting the sense that expectations have surpassed the point of no return -- that is, that the Rangers "had better not screw this up!"
And then you have Gil LeBreton, probably the most level-headed sports columnist at the FWST, himself writing that "[Texas] had better not blow this." That may not mean a whole lot to the hardcore Rangers fan, but that market segment does not comprise a significant portion of the ticket sales -- rather, it's the casual Rangers fans that largely drive attendance, the ones who are particularly susceptible to the influence of the newspaper columnists (which is quite substantial, whether we want to believe it or not), that are going to read that the Rangers ostensibly blew it and immediately think, "Well, those same old crappy Rangers screwed up again!"
That's the sort of backlash I'm referring to, and the kind that both myself and J-Parks worry about -- another potential P.R. hit that the Rangers can hardly afford to sustain at this point.
And not to double-post (shockingly, the newest iteration of BBTiA has been active enough from a commenting standpoint to prevent me from doing that with the frequency I did it with last year, but the latest buzz out of New York is that the Mets remain in a "Perez or bust" mindset:
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2009/01/mets-willing-to-wait-on-ollie.html
So, there's that...
Joey: I agree with you. I long for the day when the local sports columnists stop writing about the Rangers. It will be because they have nothing to criticize.