Ben Sheets probably needs surgery

[Ron]

Finally, an answer to one of this winter's most puzzling questions: Why is the National League's All-Star Game starting pitcher still looking for a job?

 

The answer is that free agent right-hander Ben Sheets may need surgery to repair the torn flexor tendon in his elbow, and his former employers may be asked to pick up the tab. Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said on Thursday that the team has been in discussions this week with Sheets' agent and officials from Major League Baseball about who would pay for the procedure. 

 

"We're working our way through all of the details and we don't know the answer yet," Ash said. "Major League Baseball has regulations related to workers' comp and there are procedures and protocols that have to be respected. We're working our way through those so I can't give you much insight other than that." 

 

The Texas Rangers and Sheets reached an agreement on a two-year contract late last week and only a physical stood in the way of the deal being completed. But everything changed once it was determined that Sheets had a torn flexor tendon that might require surgery. 

 

The Rangers could still pursue Sheets with a deal that would allow him to do his rehabilitation work with them in hopes that he would eventually pitch at a high level again. But that doesn't appear to be the case. 

 

"We've maintained contact but I'm not optimistic at this point," general manager Jon Daniels said Thursday morning. 

 

Daniels declined to discuss Sheets' physical and health situations. 

 

Sheets is a free agent who declined an arbitration offer from Milwaukee on Dec. 8, but he was injured while a Brewers employee. He worked much of the second half of the 2008 season with elbow pain and was left off Milwaukee's postseason roster, then revealed to reporters that he had torn the flexor tendon near his right elbow. 

 

At the time, according to Ash, the medical prognosis was that, "with rest and exercise and rehab, he should be fine." 

 

Asked if there was any talk of surgery at that time, Ash replied simply, "None." 

 

The team was so comfortable with that diagnosis that it extended a Dec. 2 offer of arbitration to Sheets, who is a free agent for the first time in his career. Had Sheets accepted that offer, he would have been considered a signed player for 2009 at a salary to be determined, almost certainly higher than the $11 million he earned in 2008, when he finished 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts. 

 

The Brewers had dispatched assistant athletic trainer Dan Wright to Louisiana to examine Sheets and that visit did not reveal any red flags. That visit occurred before Dec. 8, when Sheets formally declined the team's arbitration offer. 

 

Sheets and his agent, Casey Close, were seeking a multi-year contract for significant guaranteed dollars. The Yankees showed some interest before they signed A.J. Burnett and then re-signed Andy Pettitte, and the Rangers emerged thereafter as Sheets' most serious suitors. 

 

 

 

The Brewers have remained on the sidelines. General manager Doug Melvin contacted Close in early January, after John Smoltz and Brad Penny signed incentive-rich, one-year contracts with the Red Sox, to inquire whether Sheets would consider a similar deal. That offer was spurned. 

 

Now it appears surgery is an option for Sheets, who has been dogged by injuries throughout an otherwise stellar Major League career. He has appeared on four NL All-Star teams but has also been on the disabled list six times, mostly for shoulder issues. 

 

Many of his recent woes have been tied to a an injury he suffered in August 2005, when Sheets tore the latissimus dorsi muscle in his upper back, near his right shoulder. He did not require surgery to repair the muscle but went on the disabled list twice in 2006 for shoulder issues that Sheets and the Brewers agreed were likely related to the manner in which the "lat" muscle healed. 

 

The irony is that Sheets was on his way to an injury-free 2008 season when the elbow woes began. He first mentioned elbow pain on Sept. 17, when he exited a crucial start at Wrigley Field after two innings. He tried to pitch once more, on Sept. 27, but was ineffective in 2 1/3 innings against the Cubs and declared, ""That's all I have. I've got a broke arm." 

 

Ash was not sure when the debate about possible surgery would be settled. 

 

"When you're dealing with multiple parties, it always takes a little longer than you hoped," Ash said. "We're working our way through it."

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...rtnerId=rss_mlb

 

 

[SoxAce]

Looks like he'll be out 4-6 months.

[joejoesox]

Who else thinks we should sign ben sheets? hahahahahah

 

get real

[southsider2k5]

Gord Ash had better man up and pay for the surgery for Ben Sheets. After the s***fit he through in the Sirotka/Wells deal, he would be a two face not to do so.

[Dick Allen]

Gord Ash had better man up and pay for the surgery for Ben Sheets. After the s***fit he through in the Sirotka/Wells deal, he would be a two face not to do so.

Milwaukee looked at Sheets' medical crap and thought he was fine so they offered arbitration. The Blue Jays initially signed off on Sirotka after a physical. Gord Ash needs to find better doctors.

[EvilMonkey]

Milwaukee looked at Sheets' medical crap and thought he was fine so they offered arbitration. The Blue Jays initially signed off on Sirotka after a physical. Gord Ash needs to find better doctors.

Good point. Stop using people that spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express and get some real docs.

[southsider2k5]

Milwaukee looked at Sheets' medical crap and thought he was fine so they offered arbitration. The Blue Jays initially signed off on Sirotka after a physical. Gord Ash needs to find better doctors.

 

I won't argue with that. He needs to find someone who can read a f***ing MRI!

[DBAHO]

I still imagine he'll get signed by someone after the ASB, and be a valuable FA next off-season if he can show he's 100% healthy.

 

Still, a lot of guys who have had surgeries such as Mark Mulder have never been the same.

[elrockinMT]

I still imagine he'll get signed by someone after the ASB, and be a valuable FA next off-season if he can show he's 100% healthy.

 

Still, a lot of guys who have had surgeries such as Mark Mulder have never been the same.

 

 

Right! But, it goes to show how fickle a pitchers health issues are and the dangers of long term contratcs with big money for hurlers.