The smart thinking is that the A’s signed Ben Sheets with the idea of flipping him for prospects in the fairly likely event that they failed to catch lightning in a bottle and challenged for the division. Those plans aren’t exactly working, however.
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Athletics are now thinking they’ll just hold on to Sheets. That may be because Buster Oleny reports that other teams are worried about his decrease in velocity and don’t see him as anything close to a sure thing. Oh, and Jayson Stark says that suitors -- as the Phillies were reported to be yesterday -- want the A’s to pick up salary, which sort of defeats the whole purpose from their perspective.
So in the words of my favorite musician: Clouds so swift/Rain won’t lift/Gate won’t close/Railings froze/Get your mind off wintertime/You ain’t goin’ nowhere, Ben Sheets.
Well, Dylan didn’t include the “Ben Sheets” part.
