Gary Sheffield Career Tracker

Well, I do like Thames more as a DH.

03/11/09 7:20 PM ET
Sheffield's hard work starts to pay off
Tigers slugger adjusting batting stance back to pre-injury form

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Gary Sheffield's body is finally healthy. His mechanics, however, are still hurting him.

Of all the distinctive swings on the Tigers, few can match the image of Sheffield when he first came to Detroit. Sheffield's hands would raise his bat to the point where the handle was near his back ear, and he would waggle the bat toward the pitcher as he waited to pounce on a fastball or a mistake pitch.

More than a year's worth of shoulder injuries lowered Sheffield's hands and got him out of that form. Now he and hitting coach Lloyd McClendon are working to get it back. Wednesday's two-homer game against his old club was a good place to start.

"It's Spring Training. These are things you have to go through to get yourself right," Sheffield said. "It takes that one at-bat to where it comes, or a couple bats. Once you get it, you've got it and you just have to repeat it. That's all I'm trying to find now -- just get that one setup where I feel good off a righty and I feel good off a lefty."

He might still be looking for that. Results-wise, though, Wednesday was a big improvement.

Of all the Tigers' offensive struggles without several regulars in recent days, Sheffield's seemed to stand out. He entered Wednesday batting 1-for-18 in Spring Training, including the March 3 exhibition against Team Venezuela. The lone hit was a single in his second plate appearance Feb. 27. His selectivity at the plate was there: Sheffield hasn't chased very many pitches, and he had hit some pitches with authority, but mainly on the ground.

It was a bit of a letdown for Sheffield, who was coming off an offseason in which he was able to train like his younger days without an injury to rehab.

"I haven't squared balls up like I'd like to," Sheffield said before Wednesday's game. "I've had quality at-bats at times. For the most part, when I step in there, I want to know that I'm capable of hitting the ball out of the park every time."

Mathematically, he got his wish on Wednesday. Out of his three plate appearances, he hit the ball out twice and walked once.

"Obviously, today it looked pretty good," manager Jim Leyland said.

Sheffield's second-inning drive to left saw him pounce on a first pitch from Yankees starter CC Sabathia and send it off the light tower in left, ending his Spring Training slump. That two-run shot put the Tigers ahead for good in what ended up being their first win in six days.

Sheffield came back up in the fourth inning and had a longer at-bat against right-handed reliever Alfredo Aceves, waiting him out for a 2-2 pitch that he could drive towards left-center. That ended up being the game's final run.

Technically, Sheffield got his wish -- one good at-bat off a lefty, another off a righty. Realistically, of course, it's going to be a longer process for him to get comfortable with hitting that way again.

Sheffield said he could sense something awry with him at the plate, that balls seemed to get in on him without the ability to center it. Still, he didn't have an idea of what was causing it. It wasn't a deliberate look at video or a long session in the cage that got him to the stance, but a picture of him at the plate from 2007, his first season in Detroit.

"My hands were so far over my head," Sheffield said, "and [my bat] pointed directly at the pitcher. I tried to do it from a standstill standpoint, and I couldn't get [the bat] up that high."

McClendon made the point, too. That's when Sheffield realized the aftereffects of his injuries. Physically, he was fine, but the muscle memory from the back half of 2007 and all of '08 had become ingrained. Raising his arms and hands that high with his shoulders aching wasn't going to happen.

It isn't simply a matter of sapping his power. Without those hands higher, Sheffield has a hard time going to the opposite field. He doesn't have the same quickness in the swing.

"I just put [my hands] by my ear, and I just sit," Sheffield said. "And when I do that, I don't have to force the ball to hit it to right field. It just goes, and it goes with authority. And that's what I want to get back."

The vast majority of Sheffield's home runs have gone out to left -- 167 of his 184 homers since 2002, according to Bill James Online. Sheffield, however, had more extra-base power to the opposite field prior to the past few years, especially doubles.

"I didn't hit .300 and do what I've done in my career being just a pull hitter," Sheffield said. "I was a complete hitter. That's something that you just have to go back."

It isn't an easy step back, and Sheffield admits he's having a hard time doing that. Even as he put on his power display Wednesday, his hands would lower on occasion.

"You wind up getting your setup back in the same spot, as if you were [still] hurt," Sheffield said. "You've done it so long the wrong way, and you're trying to get it back the right way where you had your most success. My body's telling me to favor this and favor that when I don't have to."

McClendon is there to reinforce and remind him. With the Tigers at home for four of their next five games after Thursday's off-day, Sheffield will get his fair share of repetitions to try to ingrain it. They won't usually end this well, but if he can get used to how it feels with his hands higher again, that will be the judge of his success.

It won't make his swing anywhere near perfect. But it'll make it healthy again.

"My mechanics are not the perfect mechanics," he said. "I'm more of a setup guy. If I'm set up right, then I'll make it happen."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

I predict Sheff will hit 20 Home runs in 2009

gs78 wrote:

I predict Sheff will hit 20 Home runs in 2009

If he can get his muscle memory set to his old hand location, and not keep falling back to his "injured" hand level, then 20 is easy!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gs78 wrote:

I predict Sheff will hit 20 Home runs in 2009

If he can get his muscle memory set to his old hand location, and not keep falling back to his "injured" hand level, then 20 is easy!

But that is the problem


which is why I am going with 20

YESSSSSS, put this turd in the OLD players thread. So long loser. Hope you never get that 1 hr.

austin

Tigers release Sheffield
Longtime slugger let go by Detroit with 499 career home runs

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Gary Sheffield's milestone 500th career home run will have to come with a different team. The Tigers released the longtime slugger on Tuesday, a surprising roster move and a potential end to what may ultimately be a Hall of Fame career.

Sheffield said he was told by manager Jim Leyland and president/general manager Dave Dombrowski that the team wanted to go with a more versatile lineup. The Tigers did not envision Sheffield playing any position other than designated hitter.

spring training
cactus league
grapefruit league

The Tigers will owe Sheffield his guaranteed $14 million salary for this year. If he clears waivers, he'll be free to sign with any team he chooses.

Sheffield, who has 499 career home runs and is on the verge of becoming just the 25th player in history to record 500, said that he was surprised by the move and that he didn't consider it a possibility.

"I never really thought about it, to be honest with you," Sheffield said.

Sheffield spent the last two seasons with the Tigers, batting a combined .247 with 44 home runs and 132 RBIs in 247 games, primarily as a designated hitter. He played in just 114 games last season, missing time because of a sore right shoulder and a strained oblique.

The 40-year-old is a career .292 hitter over 21 seasons with seven teams -- the Brewers, Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees and Tigers. For his career, he has 2,615 hits, 1,633 RBIs and 1,592 runs scored in 2,476 games.

The Tigers acquired speedy outfielder Josh Anderson from the Braves on Monday, which would have put a dent in Sheffield's playing time this season. Anderson gives the Tigers flexibility and allows Carlos Guillen, who was shifted to outfield this season, to spend more time as DH.

That sucks


I was hoping to see Sheff hit 500 as a Tiger

Then they should have released him

Difference of opinion
BECK'S BLOG

So here's an interesting question to consider in the wake of Gary Sheffield's release: What if Sheff ends up signing with a National League team (the Phillies, perhaps) and playing the outfield? Will that make a difference in what Tigers fans think? Will that put Tuesday's decision in a different light?

Because at this point, there's clearly a very big difference of opinion as to whether Sheff can still play in the field. The Tigers felt like he was a DH only, and told him so when they said they made the decision to release him based on versatility.

"When I heard that word, versatility, I'm like, 'I'm probably the most athletic guy on the team,'" Sheffield said. "But at the same time, that's their opinion and I have to respect that."

Manager Jim Leyland conditioned his answer when asked if there's a difference of opinion.

"I don't question it," Leyland said. "I didn't question it ever. If you go back to what I said last year, I was worried about Sheffield getting hurt if he played the outfield."

If you remember back to when Sheffield was injured playing the outfield, though, it was on a relatively freak play, a collision with second baseman Placido Polanco. And if it's a shoulder injury that would be the worry, it would seem more likely to come on a swing than on a throw. The question might more realistically be whether there was a fear of Sheffield breaking down physically if he played the outfield regularly.

More realistically, given the roster situation, the Tigers could keep Sheffield or Marcus Thames, but not both. Given the economy and the thinking of teams around the league right now, neither was a strong trade candidate, though the Tigers tried. And if the Tigers were going to keep Sheffield over Thames, they had better be sure they could get a good season's worth of production out of him. Because it wasn't just an Opening Day decision, but a longer-term decision. If Sheffield got hurt in late April, there would be no Thames to which to turn, unlike years past.

And at this point in their careers, the Tigers made a decision that they had a better chance at getting more out of Thames, not just in the field but very possibly at the plate.

"He's got the best home-run ratio in baseball, or one of them, the last few years," Jim Leyland said.

Yes, those Thames prognostications we all were building pretty much ended up off. That's how much financial considerations, and an owner's willingness to look past them, can make a difference.

"Mr. Ilitch has always listened to our opinions on what gives us the best chance to win," Leyland said.

That said, Leyland added, "I don't make the decision to cut contracts. I manage the team."

And the prevailing opinion among club officials was that Thames was their guy. It does not mean they concluded that Sheff was done.

"He will get it," Leyland said of Sheffield's 500th home run. "And more."

Sheff certainly believes that he will.

"I've got a lot left. I know that," he said. "If one person doesn't think you can play in the field, that's their opinion. I know I can. Nobody understands my body better than me. Unfortunately, I got hurt here and never been able to show what I can really do. But I fought real hard to get back to this point. I just feel like I've got more to give."

That includes the outfield. And if you read the quotes, you can detect a twinge of regret that Sheffield accepted a DH role a few years back when the trade was made.

"I can go out there on an everyday basis and play in the outfield," he said. "That's what I yearn for. I want to be in the outfield. At the same time, it kind of puts you in a box when you accept the DH role, because people start labeling you as that's all you can do. And that's not the case. I accepted this role because this was pretty much the only opportunity that I had at the time of leaving New York and going to a place where I was comfortable. So I had to take the DH role. I could've not come to Detroit and waited on another situaiton and played the outfield. But I chose to come around people that I know."

* Posted on March 31, 2009 at 4:45 PM

I can't believe the Phillies want Sheff

Sheff is fast becoming a DH only type player

04/01/09 5:15 PM ET
Sheffield remains on Phillies' radar
Philadelphia taking a wait-and-see approach until he clears waivers

By Todd Zolecki / MLB.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- Gary Sheffield is expected to clear waivers at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, which is the earliest he can sign with another team.

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters on Wednesday that Sheffield, whom the Tigers released on Tuesday, has interest from three teams. The Phillies, who are looking for a right-handed bat for their bench, are one of them.

"We have interest in him," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "Again, nothing really can be done until after 1 p.m."

One potential hang-up with Sheffield is that he has played just 18 games in the outfield the past two seasons with the Tigers, because he has been their designated hitter. Asked if their interest means they are comfortable with Sheffield's abilities to still play in the outfield, Amaro declined comment.

"I'm not going to get into specifics," Amaro said. "All I can tell you is that we've talked to him, and we've talked to his agent."

The Phillies also have been scouting Rangers outfielder Andruw Jones, although Texas might not be willing to deal him.

Minor trade: The Phillies acquired right-hander Manny Ayala from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named. Ayala will report to Minor League camp.

Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

03/31/09 4:28 PM ET

Rays unlikely destination for Sheffield
Veteran expresses interest, but Burrell is club's full-time DH

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Gary Sheffield would like to play for the Rays.

After the Tigers released the veteran designated hitter on Tuesday, he was asked if he would like to play for the Rays, to which he replied yes.

However, any possibility of Sheffield, playing for Tampa Bay seems remote since Pat Burrell has the DH position locked up, which would mean Sheffield would have to play the outfield.

On how many games he thinks he could play in the outfield, Sheffield said, "As many as I need to. I can go out there on an everyday basis and play in the outfield. That's what I yearn for. I want to be in the outfield.

"At the same time, it kind of puts you in a box when you accept the DH role, because people start labeling you as that's all you can do. And that's not the case. I accepted this role because this was pretty much the only opportunity that I had at the time of leaving New York and going to a place where I was comfortable. So I had to take the DH role. I could've not come to Detroit and waited on another situation and played the outfield. But I chose to come around people that I know."

Joe Maddon was asked if there was any chance the Rays would be interested in Sheffield, who is from Tampa, and the manager didn't take the bait.

"I consider it a high compliment a man of that stature wants to play with us," Maddon said.

Most were surprised by Detroit's move since Sheffield has a guaranteed contract that calls for the Tigers to pay him $14 million this season. In addition, Sheffield, who hit .178 during Spring Training, is on the verge of a milestone, since his next home run will be the 500th of his career.

"I've got a lot left," Sheffield said. "I know that. If one person doesn't think you can play in the field, that's their opinion. I know I can. Nobody understands my body better than me. Unfortunately, I got hurt here and never been able to show what I can really do. But I fought real hard to get back to this point. I just feel like I've got more to give."

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Him and Howard can have a contest of who can swing like a nut to try to hit the longest ball while racking up 500 strike outs between them.

austin

TrammMan wrote:

YESSSSSS, put this turd in the OLD players thread. So long loser. Hope you never get that 1 hr.

austin

I second that!

I was read in the paper that the Tigers planned to honor Sheff after he hit number 500

They had stuff stashed away from last year to give to Sheff this year when he hits the 500 mark


What are they gonna do now?

The one plus is that is saves Tiger fans [ that don't like sheff] of being forced to cheer when he hits number 500; especially if it happened at Comerica Park

Sucks that Sheff won't hit 500 as a Tiger

METS CLOSE TO SIGNING SHEFFIELD

By JOEL SHERMAN

The Mets New York Mets were closing in on signing Gary Sheffield, likely today, with an eye on giving him significant playing time, according to three people involved in the talks.

"Unless something drastic happens, he is a Met," one of the sources said. "Someone would have to offer him a second year, and I just don't see that happening."

One person who has talked directly to Sheffield said the slugger prefers the Mets over the Phillies because he sees a greater potential for playing time, and wants the heavier workload as a way to showcase for the 2010 season. Sheffield is a free agent at the conclusion of this season.

In the past 24 hours, Mets GM Omar Minaya has talked directly to Sheffield to explain the Mets' interest and where the player would fit on the team, a source said. The source said that several Phillie players have also called Sheffield to lobby for him to come to Philadelphia. Two of the sources portrayed this now as totally Sheffield's call, he has the information and has to decide on the Mets, Phillies or Reds.

What is interesting from a Met perspective is that Sheffield's signing is as much about giving them protection in right field with Ryan Church as in left field with the inexperienced Daniel Murphy. There are factions of the club that are down on Church, wondering if he will ever hit lefties with any consistency or totally fulfill his promise.

The Mets dispatched two scouts to watch Sheffield in Tampa on Thursday, which was first reported by SI.com. But the element that the Mets were most interested in seeing was Sheffield throw. That is because they envision that he will be playing some right field, which is Church's position. One person briefed on that workout said the Mets were satisfied that Shefffield could throw well enough to be competitive. Sheffield has been slowed by shoulder issues in recent years.

The Mets also believe, according to one source, that even diminished that Sheffield remains a legitimate threat and still has good, long at-bats with a willingness to accept a walk.

"When he comes up he is still Gary Sheffield, he is still a presence," one Met official said.

Having seen that workout, the Mets intensified their efforts to beat out the Phillies and Reds to sign Sheffield, and they delivered a message to the veteran slugger that has apparently won his affections: "They told him if he plays well, he will play a lot," a Sheffield confidant said.

The Mets only have to pay Sheffield $400,000, the major league minimum. He was waived recently by the Tigers, who would owe him the remainder of that salary.

If the Mets sign Sheffield, their plan wouild be to have him go right on the 25-man roster and be available for Opening Day Monday. Fernando Tatis probably would become more of a pinch-hitter and potentially play more as a reserve at first and third base than in the outfield. In the short run, the Mets would likely just have Nick Evans begin the season in the minors if Sheffield signs and is ready to begin the season Monday in Cincinnati. However, Evans was only supposed to be with the Mets for a few games before they needed a No. 5 starter and Livan Hernandez was promoted to the 25-man roster.

So it is possible the Mets will seriously have to weight cutting Marlon Anderson and eating the $1.15 million due him in 2009 to create a full-time slot for Sheffield or demoting Jeremy Reed and leaving themselves without a true backup center fielder on the roster.

Sheffield, nephew of former Mets ace Dwight Gooden, hit just .178 in spring for the Tigers. Detroit has tremendous financially burdens, but decided to eat his huge salary rather than keep him as the DH. Sheffield had his worst season last year, batting just .225 with 19 homers. Sheffield is sitting on 499 career homers, 25th most in history.

It's official...

Sheffield agrees to deal with Mets

The Mets have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Gary Sheffield, studio analyst Harold Reynolds has told MLB.com and MLB Network.

Sheffield, who has hit 499 homers in his career, was released by the Tigers on Tuesday.

Earlier today, the New York Post reported that the Mets were negotiating to bring Sheffield to New York.

The Post quotes a source close to the on-going negotiations as saying, "Unless something drastic happens, he is a Met. Someone would have to offer him a second year, and I just don't see that happening."

Sheffield, who had also drawn interest from the Phillies and Reds, was presumed to prefer the Mets because they would give him more playing time as an alternative to Ryan Church in right field and Daniel Murphy in left.

The possibility of playing his home games within miles of Yankee Stadium might also appeal to Sheffield. Sheffield's three-year (2004-06) stay with the Yankees ended on a sour note when injuries limited him to 39 games in 2006.

Rufus Williams, Sheffield's representative, has said that the outfielder is seeking playing time.

"You don't show much when you're sitting on the bench," the agent said. "Gary is going to play beyond this year. It's important for him to get an opportunity to play. What we're trying to ensure, wherever he's going, is that he has an opportunity to participate and perform."

Sheffield, 40, hit .225 with 19 home runs and 57 RBIs in 114 games last season for the Tigers. He is a nine-time All-Star and would be the 25th Major Leaguer to reach 500 homers if he can get one more.

What a steal for the Mets

400,000

If Sheff even hits 15 Home runs

It be more than worth it

04/03/09 7:56 PM ET
Mets add 'historic bat' in Sheffield
Manuel, Minaya envision veteran slugger playing every day

By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Earlier this week, back in Florida, Carlos Beltran was watching the news of Gary Sheffield's release on a clubhouse television when his manager, Jerry Manuel, sidled up to him and asked what he thought.

Beltran replied that he knew Sheffield was a powerful hitter and a borderline Hall of Famer, but that he didn't know him personally.

Manuel, a coach of Sheffield during his time with the Marlins, said that he did.

Now, Sheffield is a Met.

"I guess he wanted him to be part of our ballclub," Beltran said.

The Mets and Sheffield agreed to terms on a contract Friday afternoon, giving the club the type of power from the right side that it had been seeking for some time. Sheffield will play right field on what Manuel hopes will be a regular basis, potentially supplanting Ryan Church for the starting job.

Sheffield will report to Citi Field in time for the second of two exhibition games against the Red Sox on Saturday.

It is a calculated risk for a 40-year-old slugger who has not played the outfield regularly in three seasons, but who claims he still has the skills to do so. It is a deal for a player who possesses one of the game's most violent swings, along with one of its most controversial personalities. It is a risk, for certain, but one that the Mets felt comfortable taking.

"From the years of Dwight Gooden, he's always wanted to play for the Mets," general manager Omar Minaya said. "He's happy that he's with us."

Happy, too, is Manuel, bench coach for a 1997 Marlins team that won the World Series featuring Sheffield in the middle of their lineup. Manuel characterized Sheffield as "a quiet leader" who is every bit as powerful as his 499 career home runs might indicate.

"I do think that's an addition when you can add that type of historic bat," Manuel said. "That's a tremendous acquisition for a dominant left-handed-hitting team, which is what we are. You know in the past years, we've looked extensively for that right-handed hitter. And if he can be close, or some degree of what he's been, that could be a tremendous, tremendous help for us."

Earlier this week, Manuel spoke with Detroit manager Jim Leyland, with the intention of finding out precisely why the Tigers would eat $14 million in order to release such a hitter. Keeping consistent with what he told the Detroit media, Leyland said that Sheffield's role as an exclusive designated hitter handicapped his lineup flexibility, preventing him from resting other players in the DH spot.

Yet the Mets don't have a DH playing in the National League. Realizing that, Manuel said he planned to work Sheffield back into outfield shape in the coming weeks, then insert him into a corner outfield spot -- almost certainly right field. If he takes to it, then Sheffield could force Church out of the playing time that he once expected.

"It's only obvious what's planned," Church said.

Given Manuel's stated preference to give Daniel Murphy -- a defensive liability while he learns to play left field -- as many at-bats as possible, starting Sheffield would admittedly weaken the team's outfield defense. To some degree, it would also negate the role of Fernando Tatis, a powerful right-handed bat but a below-average defender at the corner outfield positions.

The Mets will also have to find room on their 25-man roster for Sheffield. The quick and easy solution would be to demote Nick Evans to the Minor Leagues -- when the Mets need a fifth starter, Evans was likely to return there anyway. But eventually, they will need to cut another player.

Pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson would seem to be the most likely choice, despite his status as the top left-handed hitter off the bench. If Church is also on the bench, that wouldn't be a problem. But one team source also said that the club is considering carrying only 11 pitchers.

Either way, the move will affect Church, who was to start regularly in right field after missing much of last season with post-concussion syndrome. Church stumbled into a minor controversy earlier this offseason, when Manuel said that he considered Murphy a better hitter, and that he envisioned a platoon of Church and Tatis in right -- words that he rescinded the next day.

Yet regardless of what the Mets think of him, Church now stands to lose playing time.

"I can't control any of what they do," Church said. "I'm in here thinking I'm in the lineup, and if not, I'll be ready to come off the bench."

Sheffield, meanwhile, comes complete with his own set of risks. A polarizing figure, Sheffield has made news for getting into a verbal altercation with a fan in Boston in 2005, and for saying that he thought then-Yankees manager Joe Torre treated black and white players differently.

Sheffield also admitted to unknowingly using a cream that contained steroids in 2002, and was mentioned in Sen. George Mitchell's 2007 report regarding performance-enhancing substances in baseball.

Regardless, various Mets players said that Sheffield has a reputation as a fine teammate.

"He's a great guy," said Livan Hernandez, who played with Sheffield on the Marlins. "He's a great person. He plays hard every day. That's what I know."

"I've heard great things," third baseman David Wright said. "All the players that have played with him speak very highly of him. I'm sure we're going to welcome him. He's going to be a tremendous addition. He's a guy that just has a presence to him."

On the field, there are far fewer question marks. Despite his release, Sheffield can still hit. He claims he can still field -- and the Mets are about to find out. In a lineup that features left-handed hitters Carlos Delgado, Church and Murphy, and switch-hitters Beltran and Jose Reyes, Sheffield can provide power from the right side. And that, according to the Mets, is worth the risk.

"I know that when I'm playing third base, I back up about 10 feet every time he comes to the plate," Wright said. "That's all that I need to know. He hits the ball extremely hard, and I think he's got plenty more left."

Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers should have kept Sheff

13.6 million down the drain



if the Tigers struggle in the first half of the season

there will be a fire sale of talent after the All Star Break


No Way is Ilitch gonna maintain a 140 million payroll if the Tigers are struggling to play 500 in July

Injuries spoil Sheffield's time as Tiger
Slugger unable to produce after outfield collision hurt shoulder

Dave Dombrowski isn't often left searching for an answer. Very few questions cause the Tigers' president and general manager to pause.

Ask Dombrowski if Gary Sheffield is the greatest player from his teams over his three decades in baseball, and he has to think long and hard for competitors. The few he can mention in the same category -- Larry Walker, Randy Johnson, Carlton Fisk, who came up during Dombrowski's days in the White Sox front office -- are all in an exclusive category.

"If he's not [the best], he's one of the first couple," said Dombrowski, who won a World Series title with Sheffield in Florida in 1997.

For a brief period of time, Detroit saw that greatness from Sheffield, mainly during his first half in 2007.

Unfortunately, his Tiger tenure will be remembered for the injuries that marred the season and a half that followed, leaving him just shy of 500 home runs, and Detroit further away from the World Series title it hoped to capture with him in the lineup.

Sheffield came to Detroit with the unparalleled ability to create headlines, both with his bat and with his interviews. He ended up having to spend too much time talking about his shoulder. It's the risk a team takes when it brings in a player in his late 30s, even a prominent one, and the Tigers paid for it.

Detroit had barely calmed down from the Tigers' run to the World Series in 2006 when, two weeks after the final game, Dombrowski made the first big move of the offseason by acquiring Sheffield for three pitching prospects. It was the rare deal in which the Yankees were sending away a proven player for untested talent, but their rocky relationship was due for a close.

With Sheffield, Detroit finally had the feared slugger it lacked in the middle of its lineup. He had missed much of 2006 with wrist surgery, but had recovered, just as he recovered from a miserable opening month with the Tigers to hit .321 with 10 home runs in May '07. He had a .301 average with 22 homers, 63 RBIs and 56 walks in 89 games entering July 20, when a freak collision with second baseman Placido Polanco in shallow right field knocked Sheffield around and injured his right shoulder.

Sheffield played just 44 of the Detroit's final 69 games after the collision, batting .189 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.

"We were in first place when he got hurt in 2007," Dombrowski said, "and it affected our club a great deal. He was playing very well and swinging the bat. He got hurt at a tough time. And it's nobody fault, it just happened."

But the statistics were merely the start of the damage. As it turned out, Sheffield had tried to play through a torn labrum, which needed offseason surgery. He felt good during Spring Training in 2008, but that feeling only lasted into April. This time, it was a torn tendon in his left ring finger. A couple of weeks later, he had cortisone shots in both shoulders to deal with soreness. A stint in left field, which he asked for to help him get his timing back, lasted less than two weeks before his shoulder hurt again.

A strained oblique muscle in late May finally landed Sheffield on the disabled list. It didn't show until the final two months of the season, but the rest, combined with a workout routine designed to strengthen his shoulder, finally resulted in a healthy Sheffield. The results -- 11 home runs over 45 games -- provided a glimpse of what a healthy Sheffield can do. A full offseason workout plan that followed, his first healthy winter in years, added to the hope. The power surge brought Sheffield to 499 career homers, but his most important feat was passing his friend Fred McGriff at 493.

In the end, those healthy stints were the bookends for what was otherwise an injury-plagued Tigers tenure. There were moments -- no one will forget when Daniel Cabrera, then with the Orioles, tried to brush him back one pitch, then was taken deep the next -- but not the end results.

"I have no question it would have gone well and been very successful if he didn't have that injury," Dombrowski said.

"It's a shame. ... When we made the deal, you're not anticipating those types of things to happen. They do happen, but it's a situation where I think we never really had a good chance to have the full feel of his abilities because of the injury."

The cost to the Tigers won't be measured in prospects. None of the three Minor League pitchers they gave up has pitched in the big leagues. They remain in the Yankees farm system, and Humberto Sanchez has battled injury woes of his own. The price tag to Detroit came in the three years and $39 million paid out to Sheffield from 2007 through this year. The last $13.6 million will be paid to watch him play back in New York, this time for the Mets.

The Tigers, meanwhile, still haven't had a player hit their 500th career home run in their uniform. They still have a gift ready for whenever Sheffield hits the milestone homer. Now, however, it'll have to be delivered somewhere else.

A lot of money wasted

Update:

Sheffield is batting .154 with 1 HR and 1 RBI. But hey, that homer was his 500th of his career...

bobrob2004 wrote:

Update:

Sheffield is batting .154 with 1 HR and 1 RBI. But hey, that homer was his 500th of his career...

And the Tigers are paying 13.6 mil of his salary

Sheffield to undergo MRI soon on right knee

Gary Sheffield-OF- Mets Jun. 13, 2009 - 8:10 pm et

Gary Sheffield will undergo an MRI on his right knee in the next couple of days, according to the Newark Star-Ledger's Brian Costa. Sheffield has seen a major boost in playing time over the past month or so, and has sported a noticeable limp on occasion. We'll have an update as soon as more information is available. The 40-year-old is batting .261/.381/.478 with seven home runs and 24 RBI in 134 at-bats this season. He belted his 505th career home run Friday.

Source: Brian Costa

Figures his knee starts acting up again