Sheff Cooking Up Trouble

Only in sports can you find a man so unhappy with making $13 million dollars in one year that he vows to make life difficult on any owner with the audacity to sign his paychecks. Welcome to the sick and twisted world of the Yankees soon to be departed star Gary Sheffield. After the Boss wined and dined the slugger personally, the Yankees signed Sheffield to a 3 year deal with an option year tacked on. After 2 successful years and one injury plagued campaign, the rocket-armed rightfielder is furious the team exercised the option. He has captured the media's attention with his recent rant that targeted Bobby Abreu and presumably Brian Cashman.

Much has been made about Sheffield's unhappiness in the offseason. First he complained about being moved to first base; a move that just a few weeks earlier he claimed to embrace. Once people began to speculate about his future with the team, he announced the team shouldn't pick up his option. When it became evident the Yankees would exercise the option, he made it clear that any team that wished to trade for him would be getting a disgruntled player. Up to that point, it was just Gary being Gary. This is not an unusual charade for him, he's always been perceived as selfish. He tried to erase that image by playing through pain his first two years to win the hearts of many Yankees fans, but his last tirade should close the door on his stay in New York. The fact is, he may be right that he's a better right fielder than Bobby Abreu and that certain Yankees executives are blocking him from speaking to George Steinbrenner. However, it does not change the fact that he is not the best option in the position he wants to play. Abreu has proven to be a terrific fit in the lineup, he can not be moved with the same ease Sheff can, and can give more good years to the organization. Whether or not "middle men" such as Brian Cashman are not allowing communication between Sheffield and Steinbrenner is relatively unimportant. Steinbrenner has been giving more power to his baseball people such as Cash and really shouldn't play a role in this drama.

In response to Sheffield's comments Brian Cashman took the high road with no comments, but team President Randy Levine took the bait. He addressed Sheffield's issues with the team and adamantly emphasized a very important piece of information: Gary Sheffield has no leverage. He does not have a no-trade clause, so anything the organization wishes to do with him they may. His ploy to try and dissuade teams from pursuing him with claims that he'll be unhappy should have very little effect on the market. He even went so far as to name destinations he would be happy with as if to draw interest from those teams, but the Yankees will only be looking for the best ways to improve the ball club. Yankee fans will have to respect the hard work he put in, but it will be hard to overlook how bitter the break-up is going. There is absolutely no way the Yankees can hold on to this guy after his disparaging remarks. A Yankee fan can only hope that his bitter feelings towards Yankees brass and his ferocious swing are shipped to a NL team.