Ben Sheets Could Be The New Rich Harden

You know your team needs help in the starting rotation when it expects a pitcher making $11.5 million to be an adequate long reliever.

Enter Ben Sheets, who has not thrown a meaningful pitch since Sept. 27, 2008, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) and went 2.1 innings in a 7-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Two years later, the Cubs find themselves pursuing Sheets to become Jim Hendry's latest reclamation project.  Many frown upon Chicago's attempt to lure sheets, who previously was employed a few miles north on I-94, because of his injury-plagued past.  The Cubs already had one of those guys in Rich Harden, but he has since signed a deal with the Texas Rangers.

If the Cubs are able to add sheets with an incentive laden contract, as suggested by Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, it would be as if Harden never left.  Except there would be one less Canadian on the roster.

Statistically speaking, Harden owns the edge in strikeouts-per-nine innings, wins, winning percentage, hits per nine innings, home runs per nine innings and earned run average.  Sheets owns the edge in ratios such as strikeouts-to-walk, walks allowed per nine innings and WHIP. 

If you consider that Sheets walks nearly two batters less than harden does per nine innings, then you might as well call it a wash between the two guys, other than the K/9 ratio.

But there are two major differences between the former Cubs right-hander and the free agent righty who the Cubs seem to be hot after.

Major difference No. 1 between Harden and Sheets is that Harden threw 141 innings in 2009.  Sheets threw up a goose egg in '09.  Major difference No. 2 is that Sheets will be a full four years older than Harden.

Yet, Sheets has accomplished a feat Harden has yet to reach in his seven year career.

Sheets has reached the 200 innings pitched plateau three times in his career, and came close to reaching it for a fourth time in 2008 as he throw 198.1 innings.  Harden has cracked the 150 IP mark once in his career, and that was in his first full season with Oakland, where he threw 189.2 innings in the only year he has made at least 30 starts.

The former Brewer has made at least 30 starts four times in his career, and looked quite durable during a stretch from 2002 to 2004 where he made 102 starts, averaged 225 innings pitched posted a 3.74 earned run average,  struck out 591 batters, posted a 1.209 WHIP and a 4.01-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Sheets' record over the time span was 34-43.  But take into consideration he did all that and under Ned Yost, who earned a master's degree from the Dusty Baker school of ruining talented young arms.  I'm still shocked that Yoavani Gallardo never filed for an order of protection when Yost was still in Milwaukee. 

I'm sure C.C. Sabathia would have had he not thought his left arm would have fallen of whenever he picked up the pen.

I digress.

In our Building A Champion series, I suggested the Cubs offer sheets a one-year deal worth $6.5 with certain incentives.  According to Carrie Muskat's Twitter, Sheets comes with a hefty asking price and the team is (still) looking for some right-handed help out of the pen.

For a team with a $140 million payroll, don't you think it is a little ridiculous to have holes at second base, in the starting rotation and at the back-end of the bullpen?


I'll stand by my statement yesterday, noting that adding Greg Maddux might be the highlight of the Cubs' offseason.