David Lennon of newsday.com reports the Mets are keeping Ben Sheets on their radar as the market for starting pitching begins to thin. However, even in this thin market, they are apparently not considering Andy Pettitte:
"As for Pettitte, a person familiar with the club’s thinking said the Mets are not involved with the former Yankee."
Their primary focus still remains on Oliver Perez; however, should that fall through, Sheets is being looked at as a viable alternative.
"For his part, [Mets GM Omar] Minaya has played it cool, suggesting that he has other options… Two of the most intriguing names still available are Ben Sheets and Andy Pettitte, with the Mets only recently showing interest in the former Brewers ace. A person familiar with the situation said yesterday that Sheets is now being discussed, but it’s unclear what the parameters of such a deal would be."
John Harper of the New York Daily News makes his case for Ben Sheets here. And here, Tom Haudricourt clarifies the implications of a Sheets/Mets deal for the Brewers:
"If Sheets signs with the Mets, the Brewers would get their second-round pick next June, not their first. The Mets already have surrendered their first-round pick to the Angels for signing closer Francisco Rodriguez. Sheets’ ranking among Class A pitchers is 79.038; Rodriguez’s is 87.196. Thus, because Rodriguez is ranked higher, the Angels would get the Mets’ first-round pick, not the Brewers. That’s the way the system works."
