"No One's Heard From Ben"
Joey MatschulatHat tip to "Kinslerhomer" for tracking down this Twitter tidbit from AOL's Jeff Fletcher:
Ben Sheets may not try a comeback. "No one's heard from Ben," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin.
Of course, Twitter isn't really a conducive medium to those all-important details being divulged; for instance, if this "not attempting a comeback" thing is being inferred solely from Melvin's remark, then that's pretty dumb, and in fact contradicts what Sheets said last month. On the contrary, it sounds like Sheets is going to make a spirited attempt to return to the majors.
Melvin's comment does, however, underscore the reality that Sheets and Casey Close have been surprisingly quiet about his comeback; that probably doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but since agents of injured-and-rehabilitating players generally talk up their clients to the media around this time of the year, it was my expectation that Close would be doing the exact same thing. That, for whatever reason, hasn't happened with Sheets ... yet.
Reader Comments (1)
Perhaps Sheets isn't interested in returning to the Brewers. It would be irresponsible for Casey Close not to shop his client far and wide, but it is possible that Sheets has identified a small number of teams for whom he is willing to play and asked his agent to speak only to them.
Or, perhaps Sheets and Close have decided to wait until Ben is ready to throw a couple of bullpen sessions to showcase the free agent for interested teams. Showing teams that he is healthy would certainly increase the level of contract that he can get.