Tigers#1
11-10-2006, 10:37 AM
Tigers may be close to landing Sheffield
Friday, November 10, 2006
By Danny Knobler
DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have a new hitting coach. They may also be closing in on getting a new hitter.
Outfielder Gary Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star who won a world championship with Tigers manager Jim Leyland in Florida, has been the subject of serious trade talks this week between the Tigers and the New York Yankees. One baseball official suggested Thursday that a deal could happen soon, but other officials said the Yankees were talking to several teams and would prefer to send Sheffield to the National League.
It's not clear what the Tigers would need to give up to acquire Sheffield, but the Yankees' needs include a utility infielder (the Tigers could offer Omar Infante or Ramon Santiago) and starting pitching (the Tigers could offer Humberto Sanchez or Jordan Tata).
The Yankees picked up Sheffield's 2007 contract option this week, but they have a glut of outfielders and are determined to trade him. Sheffield is due $13 million, but $4.5 million of that is deferred without interest.
Sheffield turns 38 this month and is coming off a season shortened by a left wrist injury, but he would fill the Tigers' biggest off-season need, as a feared middle-of-the-order hitter. In the three years before 2006, Sheffield averaged 36 home runs and 125 RBIs per season.
Sheffield has spent the last few weeks complaining about the Yankees, and suggesting that he could make trouble for a team that traded for him without offering him a contract extension. But Sheffield has great respect for Leyland, and it's possible the Tiger manager could control him.
"I think Sheff's going to be fine,'' Yankee Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson told reporters Thursday. "He can still play. He's a Hall of Famer. He's going to help somebody. I think Sheffield will have a hell of a year for somebody.''
Leyland and other Tiger officials wouldn't comment about the Tigers' chances of getting Sheffield, but Leyland was pleased to complete his 2007 coaching staff by making Lloyd McClendon the new hitting coach and promoting Jeff Jones from Triple-A Toledo to replace McClendon as the bullpen coach.
Don Slaught, the Tigers hitting coach in 2006, resigned after the season in order to spend more time with his family.
McClendon, who was Pittsburgh's hitting coach for four years before becoming the Pirates manager, said Thursday that hitting is "something I consider my passion.''
"My philosophy is two-fold,'' McClendon said. "First, hitting is very individual, and you need to treat each person as an individual. Second, the quality of the work (a hitter) does is more important than the quantity.''
Jones has been in the Tiger organization since 1989, including three previous stints as bullpen coach, under former managers Sparky Anderson, Larry Parrish and Luis Pujols.
Shortstop Carlos Guillen was an overwhelming choice as the Tiger of the Year, in voting by the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Guillen led the Tigers with a .320 average, then batted .362 in the postseason.
"I can't tell you how impressed I was with him,'' Leyland said. "It's an honor to manage guys like that.''
Guillen led the American League with 28 errors, and it's possible that the Tigers could try to acquire a shortstop and move Guillen to first base.
Friday, November 10, 2006
By Danny Knobler
DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have a new hitting coach. They may also be closing in on getting a new hitter.
Outfielder Gary Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star who won a world championship with Tigers manager Jim Leyland in Florida, has been the subject of serious trade talks this week between the Tigers and the New York Yankees. One baseball official suggested Thursday that a deal could happen soon, but other officials said the Yankees were talking to several teams and would prefer to send Sheffield to the National League.
It's not clear what the Tigers would need to give up to acquire Sheffield, but the Yankees' needs include a utility infielder (the Tigers could offer Omar Infante or Ramon Santiago) and starting pitching (the Tigers could offer Humberto Sanchez or Jordan Tata).
The Yankees picked up Sheffield's 2007 contract option this week, but they have a glut of outfielders and are determined to trade him. Sheffield is due $13 million, but $4.5 million of that is deferred without interest.
Sheffield turns 38 this month and is coming off a season shortened by a left wrist injury, but he would fill the Tigers' biggest off-season need, as a feared middle-of-the-order hitter. In the three years before 2006, Sheffield averaged 36 home runs and 125 RBIs per season.
Sheffield has spent the last few weeks complaining about the Yankees, and suggesting that he could make trouble for a team that traded for him without offering him a contract extension. But Sheffield has great respect for Leyland, and it's possible the Tiger manager could control him.
"I think Sheff's going to be fine,'' Yankee Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson told reporters Thursday. "He can still play. He's a Hall of Famer. He's going to help somebody. I think Sheffield will have a hell of a year for somebody.''
Leyland and other Tiger officials wouldn't comment about the Tigers' chances of getting Sheffield, but Leyland was pleased to complete his 2007 coaching staff by making Lloyd McClendon the new hitting coach and promoting Jeff Jones from Triple-A Toledo to replace McClendon as the bullpen coach.
Don Slaught, the Tigers hitting coach in 2006, resigned after the season in order to spend more time with his family.
McClendon, who was Pittsburgh's hitting coach for four years before becoming the Pirates manager, said Thursday that hitting is "something I consider my passion.''
"My philosophy is two-fold,'' McClendon said. "First, hitting is very individual, and you need to treat each person as an individual. Second, the quality of the work (a hitter) does is more important than the quantity.''
Jones has been in the Tiger organization since 1989, including three previous stints as bullpen coach, under former managers Sparky Anderson, Larry Parrish and Luis Pujols.
Shortstop Carlos Guillen was an overwhelming choice as the Tiger of the Year, in voting by the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Guillen led the Tigers with a .320 average, then batted .362 in the postseason.
"I can't tell you how impressed I was with him,'' Leyland said. "It's an honor to manage guys like that.''
Guillen led the American League with 28 errors, and it's possible that the Tigers could try to acquire a shortstop and move Guillen to first base.