Three Teams Interested In Sheffield

I'm a Yankees fan and think Sheff's a jerk but the Mets should be in on him. He's got a righty power bat. He can handle NY. I think Dan Murphy's going to be a star and Church is a scrappy player but his health is in question. You can have Sheff dirt cheap. If he'll take an Alou type roll he'd be perfect.

SCOOP: Robinson Cano and Chien Ming Wang to the Cardinals for Colby Rasmus and Bryan Anderson!

I think the Reds make a lot of sense. IF Sheff is healthy and can play LF, the Reds need his bat badly. He would be a great fit between Votto & Bruce in the lineup.

"so does the new team pay anything? League minimum?"

Depending when he signs, the signing team pays the league minimum or prorated share. The Tigers are on the hook for the rest.

Todd I think once he clears waivers tomorrow, he is a free agent and can sign with anyone for any price. Obviously he won't get much more than 4 or 5 million since he is already being paid 14 by Detroit

"Obviously he won't get much more than 4 or 5 million"

Um, no way anyone signs him for anywhere close to this.

Todd I think once he clears waivers tomorrow, he is a free agent and can sign with anyone for any price. Obviously he won't get much more than 4 or 5 million since he is already being paid 14 by Detroit

Posted by: kdawg483 | April 01, 2009 at 01:48 PM

see comment by NuschlerBall212 above. He has it right.

Please Hunnington, make this happen.

Sheffield should sign only with a AL team at his age to preserve his knees no offense to his deffense but Sheffield can still hit, there is no reason why he should not sign, however you could say that about a lot of free agents who havent signed yet who are over the big 3-0.

Texas in no way shape or form could use Sheff, they already have enough outfielders to say that Texas needs more outfielders is just outragious, they already have Marlon Byrd, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy, Josh Hamilton, and Andruw Jones, not to mention Brandon Boggs in the Minors, Frank Cat. can also play outfield, right there without even going deep into their farm system, or their 40 man roster for that matter I have already named 7 outfielders, 6 of whom are in the majors Texas is set in the outfield, and should be set in the outfield for the next 5-10 years if they keep doing what they are doing, if not longer.

The Jays should sign him - and Pedro. And Bonds. I would watch Jays games again, and this I think is the point. Those 3 guys for like 5-8 million - let the juice monkeys share an outfield spot and DH, and roll the dice with Pedro - I suspect the team that takes a chance on him will not regret it (this year). Still plenty of AB's for a kid or two if this is the way to go, but if memory serves, Gaston is a better manager of veteran teams, not up and coming ones. I'm sure if I'm wrong about that a Jays fan will tell me so.

i don't see why the braves would be interested. he'd be nothing more than a platoon partner with anderson, bumping diaz to the bench. that would probably be an upgrade, but it leaves the braves without a backup center fielder. i would assume that gregor blanco will fill that role. signing sheff bumps blanco off the team. they could carry 6 outfielders, but cox loves carrying 3 catchers or 12 pitchers.

diaz has never played a game in center, and franceour has played 2 games there in his career. anderson hasn't played there since 2004, and probably for good reason. obviously sheff is an upgrade over blanco, but again, no reserve CF.

in response to myself, they also have infante and norton, who can play the outfield. infante's presence probably makes it easier to sign sheff, although he doesn't play much CF. blanco could be optioned to AAA i guess.

Infante is the backup CF. Blanco won't be on the team unless he gets the starting CF job. Signing Sheffield would mean Diaz wouldn't make the team. Also, Bobby won't be carrying three catchers.

Hmm 20-30 HR's and 100 RBI's if he gets a starting gig?? Those are surely better numbers than what Francoeur will put up....I'll take it then!

Well kinda/kinda not..!

teams that need an old guy who can't play defense and will barely hit: 0.

mets better not get NEAR this guy.

He is the power the braves lack. He is a low risk, high reward player. I could go all the way and say, the Braves need him -- for his power.

The team pays $400K for him.

"Teams That could Use Sheff:

AL - Cleveland, Baltimore, Texas, Toronto"

Cleveland is not only a team that could NOT use Sheff, they may be the WORST FIT.

First and foremost, Sheffield HATES Cleveland, especially after he tried to take out Carmona and Victor in a game last year... actually multiple games.

Second, Cleveland has Sizemore, Choo, and Francisco in the OF with LaPorta, Crowe, and Brantley all pushing for the MLB jobs, along with Hafner, Garko, Peralta, Victor, and Shop rotating the DH.

So how does he fit in Cleveland? I would lean towards "he doesn't."

I agree, Sheff doesn't fit in Cleveland. I don't get how people say he fits with the Jays either.

The Jays have Wells, Rios, Lind, and Snider.

Lind and Snider need at-bats, and they need them every day. They're both huge parts of Toronto's future, and both talented as all Hell... there's no way they should be splitting time with Sheffield.

I realize if Sheff's healthy, he's an absolute force in the lineup, but the Jays aren't going to win this year, and they need to let their young hitters play every day so that when they have Marcum, McGowan, Purcey, and Halladay (or the top pitching they receive in return for him) healthy and ready, their offense has the experience it needs.

Sheff makes the most sense for the Reds or Giants, even if it means Sheff's in the OF and a reduced role for Dickerson or Lewis.

Those are two teams who can contend this year, but need some additional offense. Sheffield is completely worth the gamble there, and they can always fall back on the younger guys if he tanks or gets hurt.

At less than $1MM, he's more than worth it for either club.

He'd also make sense in Atlanta... I don't know why Braves fans are complaining that much. You're already going to have Garret Anderson trudging around in left occasionally... a healthy Sheffield is considerably better than Anderson. If he's not healthy, ditch him. No harm done. You're not sitting a young guy who needs experience; you're sitting a decent veteran bat who can still provide leadership to the kids. No reason to shy away from Sheffield... Sheff plays well when he's angry. :)

sure Sheff can probably still put up 20 HR's if he stays healthy, but he hasn't been healthy for 3 years and even if he does his batting average will be horrendous. Guys the steroid era is over. Guys will start declining again at age 33-34 and be a fraction of themselves come 39. The time where players perform at a high level until they are 40 is done. I know everyone who is young is used to nothing but ridiculous stats, but they are coming back down to earth quick. The younger players are going to take longer to develop because they have to grow into their bodies naturally and are no longer able to gain that strength at age 22 because of HGH or roids. And the older players are going to lose it at a faster rate because they can't stay at that level because its just natural for the body to break down as we get older.

Teams are already shifting their philosophy to a defense/speed minded game, like it used to be. Get used to it because baseball is going back to the good old days of scores like 3-2 and when productive outs decide games! The home run derby is over.

From a Reds fans perspective, I have no problem with them going after Sheff. If the guy is willing to come to Cincinnati knowing he isn't going to play everyday, I would take him. The fact that they would only need to pay him the veteran minimum, makes it worth the risk. Would I pay $2+ million for him, absolutely not. But it sounds like the price is right, so why not? The guy can still hit the big fly.

My only concern with signing him would be the fact that Dickerson would get less at-bats but like I said, for $400, its worth it.

I still don't understand the hate for Taveras from Cincy fans.

He had one bad year. It's not like he's been on the consistent decline. The guy still has age on his hand too.

Cincinnati fans are all about mediocre players that rise from their farm systems. That's who they consider "good." Oh yeah...and Josh Hamilton. Remember the griping that ensued over that trade? Hell, the Reds only got a top of the rotation All-Star out of the trade. Nothing major, right? Pfffttttt!!

I think Baker is playing Fay here. Dusty said a little too much on Cincy Radio 700 WLW last night, and is backtracking a bit today. I would think Jocketty asked Dusty to not talk about it today. I still think the Reds are very much interested.

Absolutely, Taveras was a terrible signing, especially for 2 years / 6.25. Score another win for Scott Boras.

Meanwhile, Sheffield is the antithesis of what this team says they want to become: younger, faster, better defensively, more athletic. Like my mom says, you should only buy something on sale if you were going to get it anyway.