Will Red Sox Take Flyer on Ben Sheets?
Ben Sheets expects to pitch a full year during the 2010 MLB schedule – will it be in a Red Sox uniform at Fenway Park?
Sheets missed the entire 2009 campaign after undergoing surgery in February 2009 for a torn flexor tendon in his throwing arm. He was left off the Brewers playoffs roster in October 2008 because of the injury, but was told with rest and rehab that he would be able to pitch again in 2010 without surgery. The Brewers were so on board with the medical prognosis that they extended an arbitration offer to him until December 2nd. But Sheets ended up declining the extension so that he could become a free agent for the 1st time in his MLB career. That cost Sheets about $9 million because he later found out that he would need surgery to repair the tendon. At that point no teams wanted to take a shot on Sheets because of the injury.
After the surgery, Sheets could have come back at the end of the season to pitch for a contender, but he opted for a full season rehab in order to come back healthy and fully ready for 2010.
The Red Sox would not be opposed to taking a flyer on Sheets, but their 2009 experiments with rehabbed pitchers – John Smoltz and Brad Penny – did not end up producing the way they envisioned. The Red Sox released each player during the course of the season because of lack of production. In 24 starts for the Red Sox, Penny went 7-8 with a hefty 5.61 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. In 8 starts for the Red Sox, Penny went 2-5 with a hefty 8.32 ERA and 1.70 WHIP. Not good.
Sheets hasn’t been too vocal about where he wants to play in 2010 or what his expectations are for the upcoming season. He will likely get a phone call from Red Sox GM Theo Epstein soon as soon as free agency begins in earnest after the World Series. Guess we’ll see how it plays out – we’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything.
