At Home Plate - Point-Counterpoint - Comparing Ben Sheets and Oliver Perez

At Home Plate

Point-Counterpoint - Comparing Ben Sheets and Oliver Perez

Written by At Home Plate Staff (Contact & Archive) on February 05, 2009

(Editor's Note: This article was written before news was released that Sheets was considering elbow surgery. According to a report by ESPN.com, Sheets failed a physical with the Texas Rangers after agreeing to a preliminary contract.)

Sheets Consistently Better than Perez
By Adam Adkins

Ben Sheets is a very talented and productive pitcher, among the very best baseball has to offer. However, injury concerns -- his elbow might be shot -- have left him out in the cold.

But how can a guy like Ollie Perez, a guy who's never but one year been in Sheets' league (and that was 2004), get a 3-year deal worth north of 35 million? Are the Mets insane? Is Omar Minaya on drugs?

It's all about risk. Don't get me wrong: Perez is a good pitcher, probably just a hair above average, but he's also a terribly flaky performer and his injury history isn't great. But, and I know what I just described isn't really 'safe', the Mets must think that they've cured Perez's craziness and have figured out a way to keep his elbow under control. I am not so sure, but I'm not being paid to make such decisions, either.

Let's look at the money. Ben Sheets, all-star pitcher, top 10 in the league in performance, is going to get, at best, a two year deal worth no more than 23 million dollars. The same Ben Sheets that walks no one and strikes a bunch of people out. The same consistent (-ly injured?) performer that has never been anything but a better pitcher than Oliver Perez. But Ollie gets 3 years and 35 or so. That's crazy. I really do not understand.

The Mets don't need an ace, but it would not hurt to take a chance on a guy as potentially good as Sheets. He's a great pitcher, but his elbow is a problem. I'd request an MRI before I would sign him, and I don't know how Sheets would respond to that. If he refused, I wouldn't do it.

Of course, I wouldn't go and sign any pitcher without an MRI.

But that's why I'm writing for AHP and not running a franchise: I think those little things are important.

Perez’s Value Comes from Innings

By Daniel Paulling

My colleague Adam is certainly right about a few things: 1) The Mets are crazy, 2) Oliver Perez is inconsistent, and 3) Ben Sheets’ elbow requires serious concern.

To elaborate upon point No. 3, let me throw out career numbers of two pitchers and see if you can guess who they are.

Pitcher A: 86-83, 3.72 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 1428 IP

Pitcher B: 87-76, 3.81 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1376 IP

Give up? Pitcher B is the Yankees’ new No. 3 pitcher, the $82-million A.J. Burnett. Pitcher A is Sheets, a free agent with comparable numbers (maybe even better) but substantially less interest.

General managers are reluctant to bite on Sheets because his elbow can’t be trusted. He skipped the postseason last year because of elbow trouble. Sheets has been injury prone (like Burnett, strangely) throughout his career. There are just too many questions revolving around Sheets’ right arm to trust him.

Now time to get to point No. 2. It’s not like Perez is exactly Mr. Durable, though. He has never pitched more than 200 innings in a season. His awkward delivery can destroy a perfectly good outing. Perez goes from six innings of shutout ball to six-and-a-third innings and four earned runs quickly.

Oliver Perez re-signed with the New
York Mets, which gives them a
solid pitcher in the NL East race.
Photo courtesy of Carl Fung

But Perez is the better bet to take the ball next season and give a team innings. He doesn’t have any of the huge concerns about his elbow that Sheets does, though Perez’s awkward delivery can cause trouble in a moment.

In a time where inning-eating pitchers cost buckets of money, there is a lot of value in someone who can be counted on throwing innings. And the better bet for that is Perez.

Weigh in on our debate in the comments section below.

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Comments (1)

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