I’ll say this for Billy Beane: nobody in the last decade has cornered the market on ridiculously talented pitchers that may or may not be made of low-grade porcelain. Rich Harden, Justin Dukesherhcherchrrer and now Billy Beane has signed Ben Sheets to a 1-year deal worth $10M+.
As long as Sheets stays healthy up until the trade deadline, this is a no-lose proposition for the A’s. Beane could just as easily grab a few prospects for Sheets if the Athletics are out of the AL West race in July, and the A’s would also be off the hook for the remaining $4-$5 million on the deal. If Sheets pitches as well as he’s capable (he’s a top-20 starter when healthy and apparently impressed everyone at his recent open tryout), the A’s could be a (gasp) good and relevant baseball team. In fact, it’s not out of the realm to ponder a starting rotation in Oakland that could jump ahead of the supposedly dominant starting staff across the Bay.
And as long as we’re talking about 1-year contracts to brittle free agent starters, I’ll say this: I’d rather take Sheets at $10M+ at age 31 than Randy Johnson for $8M at age 45. 300th win in front of 1,847 Nationals fans be damned.
We’ve got a kindred spirit when it comes to Stephen Curry
- Sherman Strauss does what I did last week: stick up for Stephen Curry. Didn’t even think of the whole NCAA/Dickie V. backlash angle. (Warriorsworld)
- Anthony Tolliver, starting PF. Maybe by next year the Warriors can fulfill their dream starting an entire lineup full of guys named Anthony. (48Minutes.net)
- “We’re not playing decent basketball right now because Nellie’s turning lemons into lemonade. We’re playing decent basketball because injuries have pushed Nellie out of the picture altogether.” Imagine back in 2007 finding out that this would be written about Nellie just three years later. You know, if the “We Believe” season actually happened. (Golden State Worriers)
- Matt Steinmetz writes, “Despite what’s being reported by other media outlets, pursuing Stoudemire isn’t in Golden State’s plans.” (CSNBayArea)
- Oh, Onion. You had me at “Shaq” and “pulled pork sandwich.” (The Onion)
- Grant Brisbee pulled off a major coup, getting Michael Lewis to let him run a sneak peek of his new book just for the McCoven faithful. I just don’t want to be the one to tell Brad Pitt that he’s too old to play Brian Bocock in the movie version of Up the Middle. (McCovey Chronicles)
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A’s staff approaching the Giants? And here I thought you knew what you were talking about. Relying on sheets making 30 starts would be like relying on turiaf to play 10 games in a row. Talk about catering to the Fremont A’s fans. I’d rather hear about your affinity for hollywood bball than about the A’s.
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Saying it’s not out of the realm doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen. Sheets will probably get hurt like Duchschererererer and the staff will just be a slightly better rotation than they were last year, simply because Cahill, Anderson, Braden and Gonzalez are a year older.
Still, even though no Giants fan is sold on Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez has yet to fully harness his talent and Madison Bumgarner isn’t even guaranteed the 5th spot, it would be a stretch to believe the Athletics’ staff will be better. Simply because of the injuries and injury history, it’s impossible to assume that all the current starters and Duchscherer will stay healthy for an entire month, let alone a season. But the A’s do have the potential to surprise people this year, and their group of young starters is about as impressive as the Giants’.
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Have you been announcing for the Warriors because that sounded like every telecast they do. Injuries are the Warriors problem…
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Ouch! Did you just call me Fitz? Not sure I can recover from that…
The thing that’s different here is that even if the Warriors were fully healthy, they’d be a No. 8 seed at best. If the A’s are fully healthy they have the best pitching staff in the American League. Obviously those are big ifs, but I’d bet on the baseball team in Oakland before Oakland’s basketball team any day.
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