NEW YORK — Gary Sheffield was traded from the New York Yankees to the Detroit Tigers on Friday for three pitching prospects.
Sheffield played for Tigers manager Jim Leyland and team president Dave Dombrowski in 1997, when Leyland managed the Marlins to the World Series title and Dombrowski was Florida's general manager.
"I'm more than happy to be reunited with guys that I'm familiar with," Sheffield said.
Detroit and New York reached a tentative agreement on the deal on Tuesday, and the Tigers had a three-day window to agree to a contract extension. Sheffield and the AL champions agreed Thursday night to a two-year extension through 2009, and Sheffield had a physical Friday.
"This is one of the ultimate bats in baseball and one of the ultimate people in baseball," Leyland said. "I have the utmost respect for him."
Detroit's current starting outfield has Craig Monroe in left, Curtis Granderson in center and Magglio Ordonez in right. Sheffield will be primarily a designated hitter but will see some time in the outfield, Leyland said.
"We have said all along that we wanted to add a big bat," Dombrowski said.
Sheffield said becoming a DH could prolong his career, and he's happy to rejoin Leyland and Dombrowski.
"They treat you like men," Sheffield said. "To reunite with them after 10 years is a blessing."
The Yankees exercised Sheffield's $13 million option last weekend to prevent him from becoming a free agent, and Sheffield said Wednesday the Yankees had asked him to provide a list of teams he wouldn't mind being traded to. At the time, Sheffield said "middle men" on the Yankees blocked him from speaking with George Steinbrenner and said that if the owner's health wasn't an issue, he was confident he'd stay with the Yankees for 2007.
"The only thing I'm disappointed about is I didn't bring them a world championship," Sheffield said. "I went for the big stage to win a ring."
Sheffield, who turns 38 on Nov. 18, has 455 homers in 19 seasons. He topped 34 homers and 120 RBIs in each of his first two seasons with the Yankees, but missed most of 2006 with a wrist injury from an April collision with Toronto's Shea Hillenbrand. New York acquired right fielder Bobby Abreu from Philadelphia in late July. When Sheffield returned in late September, the Yankees shifted him to first base.
New York gets right-handers Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett.
The 23-year-old Sanchez was a combined 10-6 with a 2.53 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 123 innings with Triple-A Toledo and Double-A Erie this year. Whelan, 22, was 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA and 27 saves for Class A Lakeland. Claggett, 22, was 7-2 with an 0.91 ERA and 14 saves for Class A West Michigan.
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Gary Sheffield got his wish i see
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by OWNED
