Gary Sheffield Career Tracker

Sheffield clarifies meeting with Minaya
Veteran outfielder uncertain about future with club

By Tim Britton / MLB.com

08/21/09 7:39 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Gary Sheffield was back in the clubhouse and in the Mets' lineup on Friday, one day after speculation whirled that the outfielder had asked to be released from the team.

Sheffield clarified those reports, saying that general manager Omar Minaya met with him early on Thursday to explain that the organization had pulled him back after another team had claimed him off waivers.

Sheffield said it was then that he asked Minaya about his long-term future with the Mets. Both Sheffield and Minaya denied that Sheffield had specifically asked for a contract extension.

"First thing I'm thinking is [Minaya] pulled me back, so that's good for me," Sheffield said. "I get to stay a Met this year and next year. So I asked him after that, 'If you pulled me back and kept me from going to a contending team, [do I have a] future here?' And I got a 'Maybe, maybe not.' That's basically not much of a future."

Sheffield was confused by the situation, wondering why the Mets would keep him if they aren't committed to him for next season.

"I've been wanting to be a Met since I was 16," he said. "To have the opportunity to come back here next year -- that's all I ever asked for."

It was after his meeting with Minaya that Sheffield approached manager Jerry Manuel to ask for a day off to clear his head. Manuel originally had Sheffield in Thursday's lineup before replacing him with Cory Sullivan. Sheffield did pinch-hit in the eighth inning of the Mets' 3-2 loss to the Braves.

On Friday, Sheffield batted third and played left field.

"He needed a day, he got his day," Manuel said. "He's ready to go, ready to play."

When Sheffield was claimed, the Mets could have worked out a trade for him. But once a team pulls a player off waivers, it can no longer trade him. The Mets can now either hold on to Sheffield or grant him his release.

Minaya said he thought that Sheffield is more valuable than what the Mets would have received in a potential trade.

"It's a situation where we're trying to win as many games as we can," Minaya said. "And if a team wants to claim a player and not give us what we feel is value for the player, I have a responsibility to the manager and to the players that are here to win as many games as possible, and also to the fans."

Sheffield was a desirable commodity on the waiver wire, since a claiming team would only have to pay a pro-rated portion of his $400,000 contract.

"I know how the game works, and with the kind of salary I have, most teams will want me," said Sheffield, who said he knew but would not reveal which team claimed him, though Sports Illustrated reported that it was the San Francisco Giants.

Sheffield was also disappointed that Minaya did not speak with him immediately after pulling him off waivers, saying that he heard about the move through the media.

"I just felt that our relationship was good enough that he could have called me and let me know what was going on and we could have discussed it. But I wasn't even granted that," he said. "It's kind of embarrassing to hear from [the media] that I'm playing or not, or that I'm on waivers or I was pulled back."

Minaya said that he decides whether or not to inform a player who has been pulled off waivers on a case-by-case basis.

Sheffield's future with the organization beyond 2009 remains uncertain.

"We're just not ready to make decisions as far as next year," Minaya said. "All I can tell you is, he's been a great teammate in the clubhouse. He's done all the things that you would want from a player, and inside that clubhouse, he's helped other guys. And he's performed, if you look at his numbers."

Sheffield said that a sense of responsibility to his supportive teammates helped him return on Friday with the proper mind-set.

"These guys all rallied around me, and everyone in this room wanted me back. That meant a lot to me," he said. "All I can do is go out here and be a good teammate, like I said I was going to be and I've always been. I'm not going to let these guys down."

Tim Britton is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Sheffield in shape, ready for 22nd season
Veteran outfielder not signed as Spring Training looms

By Lisa Winston / MLB.com

02/11/10 9:52 AM EST

Free agent Gary Sheffield says that he is in "tip-top shape" and ready to get going on his 22nd big league season. Now all the 41-year-old needs is a team to sign him.

"There are things on the table that I have to accept or not accept," Sheffield told the New York Post. "Right now I have not made up my mind."

His conditioning, he says, is not an issue, age notwithstanding.

"I am healthy, and I have been working to get back to where I need to be," he said. "I am feeling great, and I lost 15 pounds, down to 212."

Sheffield spent the 2009 season with the New York Mets, hitting .276 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs in 100 games, including his 500th career home run (he now has 509).

The Mets, Sheffield told the Post, have not contacted him.

Boasting a career .292 average with 1,676 RBIs, the veteran outfielder has logged time in the uniforms of the Mets, Yankees, Tigers, Braves, Dodgers, Marlins, Padres and, his original team, the Brewers, who took him with their first pick in 1986.

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

Hang it up Sheff. Go into coaching or something else.