Take Sheffield Off Your Wish List- He's Now A Tiger!!!

The Yankees' have traded disgruntled outfielder Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers today, in exchange for 3 young right-handed pitchers, Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett. Sheffield had made his displeasure for both GM Brian Cashman and his replacement in RF last season, Bobby Abreu, well-known. Tigers' manager Jim Leyland had Sheffield on the Marlins and the two got along well. Sheffield has played for the Brewers, Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves and Yankees, or roughly 1/4 of the teams in baseball, including the Tigers. Sheffield, about to turn 38 in 8 days, has a .297 career batting average, 455 home runs and 1,501 RBI in 2,229 games. He is on target for hall-of-fame caliber numbers, but has 2 clouds hanging over him; first, he's been a known malcontent on various teams, including allegedly throwing balls away while with Milwaukee many years ago, and second, the cloud of steroids has been hanging over his head ever since he admitted to training with and receiving the "clean" and "clear" from Barry "Balco" Bonds.

In spite of the baggage that he brings, we'd still have loved to bring Sheffield to Shea, but we're happy he wasn't dealt to one of our NL rivals! This looks like a good deal for both teams, as the Tigers get that big bat they needed, and the Yankees get 3 young, talented pitchers for the future, including Sanchez, who went a combined 10-6 with a 2.63 ERA over 20 starts in Double-A and Triple-A, who will apparently be added to the Yankees' 40-man roster. The other 2 pitchers will be sent to the minors.