Tomorrow morning, Ben Sheets will hold a throwing session in front of a large collection of teams, and it wouldn't surprise anyone if the Yankees have some scouts of their own at the event.

Sheets was out for all of last year after surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon, and has had other injury problems in the past (he has not pitched over 200 innings since 2004), but says that his problems are behind him and that he feels "fantastic."

Could the Yankees be a realistic contender in the race for Sheets, or will they just be taking notes at tomorrow's throwing session?  And, if the Yankees are interested in the right hander, would he actually be a viable option for the 2009 World Series Champs.  Many people will first look at Sheets's 2008 season in which he went 13-9 with a 3.09ERA.  Those are solid numbers, especially considering he was playing on a Brewers squad that next to killed CC Sabathia in order to limp into the playoffs.  But, he did only pitch 198.1 innings, keeping him south of the 200IP mark for the 4th straight season.  Thus, the main question for me would be his strength - can you actually count in him not to break down in the final weeks or even months of the season?

This might not seem like a big deal to Yankees fans because you could easily assume that if Sheets is a number 5 starter, he could easily be replaced by Joba or Hughes should be break down later in the season.  However, I don't think it's that simple; actually, I assume the opposite.  The Yankees seem to have strict guidelines for how they use Hughes and Joba, so do you think they would be comfortable shifting one from the bullpen to a starting role in the middle of the season?  And, if the Yankees were willing to make such a shift, would Hughes or Joba respond positively to such a sudden increase in innings?  It would be a tragedy to have to shelve one of them and Sheets, just to be worse off than  we are now.

Another major issue with Sheets is that he is coveted by so many teams.  Should the Yankees be completely blown away, would they be willing to get into a bidding war with other teams?  This seems unlikely, especially from a team that was recently quoted as referring to Aroldis Chapman as a "luxury" and therefore not deserving of a contract that would put the Yankees over budget.

Sure, the idea of having 5 front end starters (when healthy) as a rotation is a very enticing thought, but I wouldn't expect Sheets to be donning the Pinstripes anytime soon .  As fans, we should remind ourselves of the ceiling that we can expect hope for from Hughes and Joba and pray that they live up to some of that hype in 2010.