"Ben Sheets isn't interested in playing the "what if" game.

When healthy, he's proven to be one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball.

But the injuries that have sidetracked his career beg the question: What might the A's new ace have accomplished by now with some better luck?

Sheets made five trips to the disabled list from 2005-2008 with the Milwaukee Brewers, then missed all of last season while recovering from elbow surgery.

"I don't let it consume me," Sheets said of his health woes. "But I wonder what type of pitcher I'd have been in those years."

The A's signed the right-hander to a one-year, $10 million contract in January, a high-risk, high-reward proposition for a team that doesn't normally invest big dollars in starting pitchers.

"If he didn't have the injury, you've got a guy who probably signs back in Novmember to a long-term deal," A's general manager Billy Beane said on the day of the signing."