Gary Sheffield, who would in an instant win the modern equivalent of the 'Jim-Rice-'most-feared hitter' accolade, has been cut by the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers released designated hitter Gary Sheffield this morning, a startling development since the team had already guaranteed him $14 million this season. It's the second-highest amount owed to a released player in club history, behind Damion Easley's $14.3 million in 2003.
“You’re going to pay him, one way or the other,” said club president/general manager Dave Dombrowski.
The decision is surprising from a historical perspective, because Sheffield’s next home run will be the 500th of his career.
“It’s one of those things where you move on, you know?” Sheffield said, remaining remarkably composed as he discussed the move. “I was surprised. I thought I was getting ready for the season. I never thought that I wasn’t going to be playing with the Detroit Tigers this year. It’s probably a blessing.”
Dombrowski confirmed that the decision means outfielder Marcus Thames will make the team. Thames will likely get a percentage of at-bats as the DH. “Marcus is a good player, a threat,” Dombrowski said. “He’s a streaky hitter at times. When he’s hot, he’s real hot. I think he’ll be a big plus for us.”
Of course, Gary Sheffield is nobody's idea of slam-dunk Hall of Famer today because there is the specter of hanging around with a PED-era Barry Bonds while hitting 35+ HRs each year, he is in the "steroid era highly suspect hitter" basket.
If Sheffield does not get a call and ends up being forced to retire, he will leave one homer short of the once-hallowed 500-homer mark. Eventually, he will also be an interesting case for the Hall of Fame. In addition to his home runs, Sheffield has 2,615 hits, 1,633 runs batted in and a .292 career average. Based strictly on numbers, Sheffield is a Hall of Famer.
But some voters will surely wonder how much of his production was tied to steroids. He testified before a federal grand jury investigating Balco in December 2003. One year later, Sheffield, who worked out with Barry Bonds, told Sports Illustrated that he unknowingly used a designer steroid on his knee.
Will Sheffield’s link to steroids, even if he said it was unknowing, damage his Hall of Fame chances? I think it will. I’ve interviewed numerous writers who have told me they will not vote for any players who were connected to steroids, regardless of the explanation.
So, while Sheffield waits for a call that could enable him to climb over the 500-homer mark, anything else he does in the future may not sway certain voters. Whether Sheffield ends up with 499 or 515 homers, some voters have already made up their minds about his candidacy for the Hall. Have you?
Who'd a thunk it way back when George Steinbrenner picked Sheff over Vlad Guerrero when offered the choice by Brian Cashman? Vlad would have been the sane choice, but Sheff's tamp ties essentially got him his contract. The notion then was that George was looking forward to celebrating Sheff's 500th homer in pinstripes- and here he is getting cut by the Tigers, 1HR shy of the mark. How times change, and with them our attitudes to athletes an their foibles.
Sheff says he's not done. So I decided to look up his projections at fangraphs. He's projecting worse than Hideki Matsui, for that ever that is worth, but there you go. None of the projection sysems think his ISO will op .200, and his OBP looks mired between .339 and .356. The high .700s OPS would put him at about league average but that's Xavier Nady with more OBP, less SLG and no fielding.If you could get him for $400,000, then that is something some team will buy into, I imagine.
I'm pondering just who needs a league average bat to DH in the AL...
Yanks, no Bosox no, Rays no, Orioles no, Maybe Jays?
Chisox no, Indians no, Twins maybe & maybe Royals?
Angels, no, Athletics no, Rangers no, but Mariners maybe?
Even then I'm not sure the Twins or the Jays or Royals really need Sheff. And of course the Mariners are trying to cure their ills through better team chemistry so I don't see him landing there. That means he's likely to end up as pinch hitter on some NL team.
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