Monday Morning Rangers Notes: The 12th Day Of Christmas
Joey Matschulat
Manny Ramirez (pictured) in a Texas Rangers uniform? Don't bet on it. - Ruben/Flickr.comAnd on the 12th day of Christmas, Jon Daniels said to his impatient, yet hopelessly captive audience, "Hey, you know that shiny new pitcher you all asked for in your Christmas letters? You know, the one that's currently on backorder?"
"Well, he's possibly also defective, so don't get your hopes up too high."
ESPN.com's Buster Olney wrote on Sunday that the protracted medical records of free-agent right-hander Ben Sheets were evoking concern on the part of his potential suitors, which in turn should elicit little more than a dismissive "So? What else is new?" from the astute hot stove observer.
However, the key revelation to take away from Olney's superficially innocuous update is not the concern itself so much as it is the unsettling disclosure that Sheets's previously troublesome right shoulder is evidently more alarming than the irksome right elbow soreness -- which was ultimately attributed to a torn flexor muscle -- that preempted what would have otherwise been his first-ever trip to the playoffs.
Sheets, as you may recall, had his 2005 campaign cut short in late August by a torn right latissimus dorsi muscle (an integral component of the shoulder joint), began the 2006 season on the 15-day disabled list due to a right posterior shoulder strain, and then, after being activated on April 16th, went down less than a month later with right shoulder tendinitis that cost him nearly half the season. Chris Neault, a friend of Baseball Time in Arlington and frequent contributor to the Hardball Times, attempted to identify the predominant weakness in his kinetic chain back in early May:
Why do these injuries continue to mount for Sheets? The culprit appears to be his high arm slot. Although it’s partly responsible for the large 12-to-6 curveball, it’s also responsible for taxing the rotator cuff to the max. As a rule of thumb, the higher the arm slot, the harder the rotator cuff and biceps must work to stabilize the head of the humerus. This places stress on the rotator cuff interval, which includes ligaments in the front of the shoulder that also add stability.
Latent rumblings persist that Sheets's back is also a source of some concern; agent Casey Close confidently asserted back in November that no structural damage was inflicted by his client's most recent elbow-related malady, but widespread apprehension over his rotator cuff being a potential ticking time bomb would go a long way towards explaining why the market for his services has been so lifeless to date -- and, for that matter, why the Rangers' outward show of interest in his services has appeared lukewarm from the outset of this entire saga.
Maybe Nick Piecoro was onto something, after all.
And then as he turned to walk back into his workshop, Daniels bellowed, "Oh yeah, and you're not getting a Manny doll, either!"
SI.com's Jon Heyman apparently generated some buzz after a Sunday television appearance on the newly launched MLB Network (during which it was alleged that Texas was interested in Ramirez), but Daniels promptly refuted that assessment, explaining that while the Rangers have "looked at some right-handed options for the lineup ... [they're] not pursuing Manny at this time." Not that there was ever even a minute chance that such a marriage would occur, mind you, or that such a marriage should occur even under more ideal financial conditions.
● According to Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal, the Red Sox and estranged captain Jason Varitek are believed to be discussing the possibility of the 36-year-old backstop returning to Boston on a short-term commitment as a result of Varitek's (and agent Scott Boras's) failure to obtain a big-money deal in a tough economy. His reprisal of the everyday catching gig in Beantown wouldn't entirely preclude the tiresome idea of a catcher-for-pitcher swap between the Rangers and Red Sox coming to fruition at some point before Opening Day (after all, Varitek isn't a solution to their long-term catching conundrum -- not at his age and current level of production), but it sure diminishes whatever likelihood might have been existent to nearly nothing.
● Although the Nationals have reportedly made a late push to acquire free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley, all indications continue to suggest that the Cubs will ultimately sign him sometime this week.
[Update: FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that the Cubs have reached an agreement in principle with Bradley on a three-year, $30 million deal.]
● Finally, Rangers vice president of media relations John Blake has been charged with the arduous task of sifting through the deluge of audition tapes -- which reportedly number well into the triple digits -- that have arrived in Arlington since Victor Rojas swiftly vacated the broadcasting chair alongside radio play-by-play legend Eric Nadel for a lucrative studio gig with the MLB Network. Team president Nolan Ryan and (of course) Nadel will have a say in the process, which the Rangers presumably don't want to allow to drag out late into the month.
Hey, winter's back.
Reader Comments (10)
HOW ABOUT WE SIGN SHEETS TO AN 8-YEAR, 75k-PER-INNING CONTRACT? EVERY YEAR HE PITCHES 200 INNINGS, HE GETS HIS 15 MILLION, AND ANY YEAR HE BLOWS OUT HIS ARM AND HAS SEASON ENDING SURGERY AFTER GOING ONLY 5 1/3 INNINGS IN THE SEASON OPENER, HE EARNS THE LEAGUE MINIMUM, 400k...
Remember how excited you got when you learned that A. Doug Melvin wasn't going to offer Ben Sheets a contract and B. He took his house in Highland Park (maybe not HP..I know it was somewhere down here) off the market?
Savor those moments, because I think that might have been the apex of your giddiness over the possibility of signing Sheets.
It's kind of slowly cooled down bit by bit since that day, and with all those juicy nuggets of information that Joey's brought to our attention, its like a thick coating of freezing rain on top of everything.
(Which, by the way, I can report is falling in the area of far west Fort Worth where I am currently stationed watching bridges and overpasses. Now back to you)
I would love to listen to Scott Garner alongside Nadel. I am curious as to why that can't happen.
Conspiracy theory time:
I fervently believe that that injury reports we're now seeing regarding Ben Sheets are a product of an underground organization colluding to provide the best players to the teams that can afford to give them ridiculous contracts, i.e. the Yankees and Red Sox. The reports are exaggerations or outright fabrications aimed at dissuading the "lesser" teams from perusing an apparently risky proposition in Ben Sheets.
</tin foil hat theory>
Truthfully, I think the injury reports don't really mean a lot. Sheets is a possibility for the Rangers exactly because he is an injury risk, and thus less desirable for the folks willing to dole out $40 million checks like toilet paper.
"...Sheets is a possibility for the Rangers exactly because he is an injury risk..."
Exactly. Well-put.
This should HELP, not hurt.
We just have to come up with a contract that reflects that risk, with as many years of vesting options as he'll agree to, because, when he's healthy enough to pitch, Sheets is among the best, and when he's not, we don't want to pay for it, and can even benefit temporarily, by getting a sneak-peak at a Holland, or a Diamond...
For us, a (well-contracted) young injury risk is much better than a (regularly-contracted) older mediocrity risk. One can be sent down or DL-ed to give a prospect a few starts, but the other just clogs the path to imperative knowledge and development.
Absolutely agree with Craig and Michael on Sheets' injury risk... there's not much to add to what Michael already said, except that last part of his comment is also why I don't really want to see the Rangers going after Derek Lowe right now.
If we can't get Sheets lets just roll with the rotation we have and try to fortify the bullpen and 3B a tad more.
If it were me, I'd go to Mr. Sheets' agent and offer the following:
3 years @ 12 M per, with escalator clauses at 150, 180 and 210 IP, @ 1 M per for the first two, and 1.5 M for the third ... with a no-trade provision for the first year, and a limited no-trade clause for the second and third years. It's a manageable $$$ amount for the caliber of pitcher he is ... when he's healthy. And it allows the Rangers to share some of the financial "risk-reward" factor with Mr. Sheets. And I wouldn't necessarily trade Millwood or Padilla ... yet.
Heyman put into print a few additional Rangers rumors this morning that haven't been receiving a ton of press:
The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo confirmed yesterday that the Red Sox weren't in on Young, and quite frankly, even at $60 million over five years (as opposed to the previously assumed number of $80 million), who would really want him at that price either after his rough '08 campaign? Two broken fingers or not, one cannot assume that he's going to automatically revert back to his previous .780-.800 OPS form. It's possible, and perhaps even probable, but that would be an egregious chance to take with the vast majority of the league being affected by the economy.
And there's some thought out there that the Dodgers will eat Andruw Jones's remaining salary and cut him before Opening Day (thus making him available for the league minimum), and I guess that's something the Rangers could take a cursory look at, but I seem to recall that Jones didn't want to move to the American League when he was up for his big contract last winter, and I hardly see any reason to believe he'd do it now unless an AL squad stood out as being able to offer him more major league playing time than any other organization. It would also only make sense if Texas traded an outfielder or two (Marlon Byrd? David Murphy? Nelson Cruz?) before spring training, which I don't really see happening either.
Please let these Manny rumors be hogwash. We need to stick with our OF of Hamilton / Cruz / Murphy to see what we really have there. Byrd & Borbon are good insurance. Manny is good, but his act will wear thin after awhile, and he's going to be expensive. Spend that $$$ on pitching if you're going to spend it, Mr. Hicks.
We got lucky with Gagne once, but unless you can get him on a 1 mil minor league deal - which is probably unlikely - why on earth would you want to take that kind of risk? His August in Boston 2 years ago is the stuff of infamy, but last year he was terrible, too - and hurt.
If Bradley gets 400 at bats this season, the Cubbies should be very very happy.
Heyman must get paid pretty well by Boras to create phantom competition, where there really is none.