More on Ben Sheets And Ray Ratto

After the A’s signed Ben Sheets to a huge one-year deal, the SF Chronicle’s Ray Ratto wrote an article the gist of which is that A’s fans can’t get too excited about the signing because even if Sheets pitches great as an A, the A’s may well trade him off at the July 31, 2010 trade deadline, the way they did Matt Holliday in 2009.

Well, that’s just a dumb argument.  I can’t see how any intelligent A’s fans wouldn’t be excited about this deal, so long as Sheets stays healthy and pitches well.

As a fan of a small-market team, you just have to accept the fact that the team needs to do more with less and make moves with an eye to their financial limitations.  That being said, some teams really are too cheap (the Marlins), and some small market teams don’t really know what they’re doing (the Royals and Pirates).  However, some small market teams have been able to build winners on a constricted budget (the Twins and the A’s).

The Matt Holliday move last year made sense for the A’s, and the Ben Sheets deal makes sense for the same reason.  The reason the A’s traded Holliday last year at the trade deadline was that Holliday did not play especially well as an A, and he wasn’t able to turn the team around. With the team headed to another 75 win season, it absolutely made sense to trade Holliday for prospects.

2010 is a whole new season, and while the A’s still don’t look like world-beaters, they will probably be a better team than in any of the past three seasons, even before adding Sheets.  If Sheets pitches great and the A’s are surprise contenders in late July, the A’s will likely hold onto Sheets, at least until they drop out of contention.

If, however, the A’s are going  nowhere, why not turn Sheets into some valuable young prospects to whom the A’s didn’t have to pay large signing bonuses?

Small market teams absolutely have to rebuild around young players.  You only get so many high draft picks, so you have to find other ways to acquire legitimate prospects the team can build around.  The A’s have figured out a way to sign top players, who if they don’t do enough to make the team a winner in the short term, can be traded for those prospects.  I don’t see that this strategy is anything to gnash one’s teeth over.