A lot of moves have gone down this off season within the AL West, and for the most part the Oakland A’s weren’t a part of them. Sitting on more money than a lot of clubs, I guess they are being somewhat selective with their signings. Last year they took awhile to get into the market, but found great value in some of the players that hadn’t been signed yet. There’s still plenty of time to add more players to the mix and make a splash, but today they signed free agent Ben Sheets to a one year $10 million contract, with the chance at more if he hits some incentives. Now we have a two headed monster at the beginning of the rotation in Duscherer and Sheets. Last year we didn’t have a clear Ace and now we have two. Pairing these two vets with Brett Anderson (last year’s most impressive rookie starter) and Trevor Cahill looks to be a solid rotation.
Sheets is reportedly still hitting the mid-90’s on the radar gun when he worked out for interested teams, and looks completely recovered from the elbow surgery that sidelined him all of last year. If he ends up being his old self (2008 All-Star), he will be worth the money. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him traded away at the mid-July deadline if he’s doing well, for some always coveted prospects to put in the system, but hopefully we will be in the playoff hunt when that time rolls around and stick with him! Even if the fragile Sheets ends up getting hurt along the line, which isn’t out of the question, he will be able to help out the very young an inexperienced pitchers currently on the roster. Last year they had basically no guidance from any veterans, so all the nuances of the game they can absorb from Sheets will be great for them on and off the field. If this gamble on a injury prone player doesn’t work out, I won’t blame them for at least trying to get someone that can compete with the Felix and Cliff of the Mariners. Here’s to wishing Ben good health in 2010!
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
January 26th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
chappy 81
Finally something for the A’s to be proud about ! Sheets is a great pitcher and hopefully he can lead this team to where they need to be.
Alan Parkins
January 26th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Haha, well you were wondering what they were going to do with their money, and I knew they’d spend some of it eventually. I guess some of the guys they tried to sign earlier in the off-season didn’t work out, because the players didn’t want to come to Oakland… It sounds like they are interested in Damon as well, but again, whether he’s interested in Oakland remains to be seen. I liked him on his first tour with the A’s, but if he ends up like Giambi screw that!
January 26th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
chappy81
The way that the game is set up , unless the teams who really want to play with the ‘big boys ‘ . They now know it’s not only about spending wisely but spending on the right talent. And that’s talent that complementary to that team’s roster and their perceived needs.
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Dropped these two pieces as of today.
Not Wanting To Kick Someone While They’re Still Down But How Much Worse Can It Now Get For NBC …. ?
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Ladies And Gentlemen The 1,000 lb Gorilla Is Back In The Room And His Flatulence Is As Great As Ever ………… Welcome Back Brett Favre …………
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Alan Parkins
January 26th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
chappy
How deep between the cushion seats did they have to dig to come up with the moolah for Sheet ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!!!
Alan Parkins
January 27th, 2010 at 7:22 am
chappy 81
You just gotta love the latest on Greg Oden and the nude pictures going around of him on the ‘net. He took the pics but it was an ex-girlfriend that posted them. Nothing like a woman scorned as they say.
But at least he wasn’t as bad as ESPN’s former analyst Sean Salisbury who did a similar thing whilst drunk. He took pics of himself in a men’s room half naked of his lower extremities . And then he propositioned a female coming out of the ladies’ room of the restaurant in question and asked her to perform oral sex on his appendage whilst he flashed himself in front of not only her but several of the employees who witnessed the spectacle at the time.
Way to go ESPN ! Thankfully they then suspended him and then didn’t renew his contract with the four letter network.
Alan Parkins
January 27th, 2010 at 7:26 am
chappy 81
Both ‘you’ and sportschump are given an honorable mention in this piece.
Titillation ……. Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That At All ! … The NFL Does It
Alan Parkins