Rumorville: Fielder, Sheets

Our good friend Nick Cafardo at Boston.com has some more thoughts on current Brewer Prince Fielder and ex- and possibly future-Brewer Ben sheets:

8. Prince Fielder, Brewers first baseman: The Brewers will say he is not available, but could they be overwhelmed with a package of young players? One AL talent evaluator said, "He makes a lot of sense for Boston. They need a big bat in the lineup, it would combat what the Yankees have done with Mark Teixeira. They could go to their Teixeira plan of moving [Kevin] Youkilis to third and trading Mike Lowell. In this type of package, you can start with Clay Buchholz and go from there."

9. Ben Sheets, free agent pitcher: We're hearing more and more that a team like the Braves or Rangers could pony up a couple of years on a contract that would land the oft-injured righthander. At this stage of free agency, he seems like big-time quality for a price that has surely come down. "I think as the weeks go on, more and more teams are going to take a good, hard look at him," said a National League manager. "Given his history, he's just not going to get a big deal, and the realization might be sinking in that he and his agents know it."

Clay Buchholz's stats are here.  The strikeouts are nice, but perhaps I'm missing something.  Interestingly enough, per Yahoo!:

Jan 8 Chad Finn, of The Boston Globe, reports it is becoming more likely that either Boston Red Sox SP Clay Buchholz or SP Michael Bowden will be traded in exchange for a catcher after the team signed SP John Smoltz.

We probably have a decent catching prospect to spare, with Lucroy, Lawrie, Salome, and the easily forgotten Vinny Rottino. Moreover, the Sox have young pitching: in addition to Buchholz, they have Michael Bowden and especially Justin Masterson.  (The walks need to come down, but 68 hits allowed in 88 IP is pretty great, especially for a guy drafted in 2006.)  Plus, with the additions of Smoltz and Penny, the Sox would seem to have a surfeit of pitching. 

And while the Yankees went out and got CC, AJ Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, the Sox picked up Brad Penny and John Smoltz --- not bad additions, but a definite step below their intradivision rivals. I can envision them being motivated to deal for Prince.

None of this qualifies as even a rumor...but it's fun to speculate.

As for Sheets, the lower the price goes, the less likely (it seems to me) we'll be able to re-sign him.  It sounds like Moustache is resigned to getting a low-4s ERA and hoping that YoGa can deliver.