Tigers deal three pitchers to Yankees for Sheffield
Detroit has acquired Gary Sheffield from the New York Yankees for three right-handed pitching prospects, the Tigers announced Friday.
In return for Sheffield, the Tigers sent Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett to New York. Detroit agreed to a two-year contract extension with Sheffield through the 2009 season.
The moves comes days after Sheffield blasted Yankees management and said Bobby Abreu, the player who took Sheffield's place in New York's outfield, isn't as good a player as he is. The Yankees exercised their $13 million option on Sheffield last weekend, preventing him from becoming a free agent, and asked him for a list of teams to which he'd like a trade.
"Everybody knows when I go to another team, I'm coming back looking for you. That's just the way it is," he said earlier this week. "When you let me go, I've got a chip on my shoulder, and I'm coming with it. That's how I play the game."
He'll have the chance to prove it again by moving across the AL to the Tigers, who stunned the Yankees in the playoffs on the way to the World Series.
Sheffield, a 19-year veteran and nine-time All-Star who has played for Milwaukee, San Diego, Florida, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Braves and Yankees, has a .297 career batting average, 455 home runs and 1,501 RBI in 2,229 games. He's sixth among active players in RBI and seventh in home runs.
"We have been able to add one of the biggest bats in baseball," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who managed Sheffield in Florida. "I have a great relationship with Gary Sheffield and I have the utmost respect for him. I'm happy to add a bat of this magnitude and that he'll be a Tiger."
Sanchez, 23, 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.
