<TABLE width="100%" align=center><TBODY><TR><TD class=vaLabel vAlign=top rowSpan=5 width=100 align=middle>
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=subHead vAlign=top colSpan=3>Athletics ink Ben Sheets to one-year deal </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=vaLabel colSpan=3>Ben Sheets - S - OAK - Jan. 26 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3>Athletics signed RHP Ben Sheets to a one-year, $10 million contract.
Incredibly, he could earn up to $12 million with incentives, quite a nice haul for someone who didn't throw a pitch in the major leagues last season after elbow surgery. Of course, if everything breaks right for Billy Beane, the Athletics won't be responsible for all of the cash, since he'll most likely swap Sheets to a contender in July. The 31-year-old right-hander is 86-83 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over eight major league seasons -- all with the Brewers -- and is one of the game's best when healthy. The problem is that those days have been few and far between. For now, he's part of an exciting staff that includes Justin Duchscherer, Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez, among others.
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</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=subHead vAlign=top colSpan=3>Athletics ink Ben Sheets to one-year deal </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=vaLabel colSpan=3>Ben Sheets - S - OAK - Jan. 26 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3>Athletics signed RHP Ben Sheets to a one-year, $10 million contract.Incredibly, he could earn up to $12 million with incentives, quite a nice haul for someone who didn't throw a pitch in the major leagues last season after elbow surgery. Of course, if everything breaks right for Billy Beane, the Athletics won't be responsible for all of the cash, since he'll most likely swap Sheets to a contender in July. The 31-year-old right-hander is 86-83 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over eight major league seasons -- all with the Brewers -- and is one of the game's best when healthy. The problem is that those days have been few and far between. For now, he's part of an exciting staff that includes Justin Duchscherer, Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez, among others.
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