There’s apparently some money burning a hole in Billy Beane’s pocket, because according to Buster Olney, the Athletics are trying to sign Ben Sheets. Sheets figures to command around $8 million, so either Beane was given some new financial latitude or else he’s been playin’ possum.
A Sheets signing would be a nice move for the A’s who, given how tough the AL West appears to be this year, will need to take some chances and hope for some upside from a lot of their players. Of course, given that this is Beane, it may be far more likely that he’d expect a nice first half from Sheets followed by a deadline deal for prospects. Which would also be smart.
The kicker: Olney says that if the A’s can’t swing a deal for Sheets, they’d turn their attention to Johnny Damon, whom would presumably be subject to the same sort of deadline-deal, free agent arbitrage.
Query: is a Buster Olney tweet enough to make the A’s an official “mystery team?” If so, I may owe Scott Boras an apology.
