By Geoff Walter / SNY.tv

 

 

Gary Sheffield will now be serving up hits at the Detroit Diner. During 2006 spring training, Sheffield admonished the Bombers for not picking up his option, and in November complained when they opted to exercise it to control where the rightfielder went. The disgruntled ex-Yankee was traded to the Tigers in exchange for three righthanded Minor League pitchers earlier this week, but were the Yankees forced to pull the trigger too early because of Sheffield's big mouth? Could they have gotten a better deal? Here's your chance to see my take on the trade and respond with some thoughts of your own.

As of right now, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu are your starting outfielders. Melky Cabrera is your platoon man right now and most likely will replace Matsui in left in a few years. If he elects to come back, Bernie Williams can fill in for Damon, play the other outfield positions as needed, DH and pinch hit every now and then. Joe Torre said that if Sheffield remained he would probably be playing first base, and we all know how well he fit in at that position in 2006.

 

Jaret Wright had a 6-2 record after the 2006 All-Star break and went 16-12 with a 4.98 ERA in 43 games -- 40 starts -- in his two seasons in pinstripes. Just as some Mets fans have vilified Carlos Beltran for striking out looking, there are Yankee fans who did the same for Wright's performance in Game 4 of the ALDS against the Tigers. He was hit for four runs -- three earned -- in 2 2/3 innings against Detroit. The Yanks lost 8-3 to end the season.

Three young arms can certainly bolster the Yankees staff. Humberto Sanchez, who many consider to be the prize in the Sheffield deal, is the closest to being Major-League ready. The 23-year-old was 10-6 and ranked second among all Tigers Minor League pitchers with a 2.63 ERA and 129 strikeouts over 123 innings across 20 starts at Triple-A Toledo and Double-A Erie in 2006. In his first five starts with the Mud Hens, Sanchez went 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA. He finished the Triple-A season with a 5-3 record and a 3.86 ERA in nine starts.

Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett, both 22 and coming off a season of Class A ball, should be ready for the Show in a few years. Whelan was ranked third among all Tigers Minor League pitchers with 27 saves in 2006, going 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA in 51 games. Claggett posted a 7-2 record with a team-best 0.91 ERA and 14 saves in 51 games for West Michigan.

None of the pitchers the Yanks acquired in the Sheffield deal have any Major League experience at all. It is always difficult to predict how a pitcher is going to adapt to the Major League level. Not everyone can be a Chien-Ming Wang. A big question right now is the starting rotation, whose only current ace is Wang. Randy Johnson just had back surgery to correct a herniated disc and we will have to see how he responds. Mike Mussina is expected to return on a new two-year contract, but is getting older and he's become infamous for his precipitous decline in consistency once he gets past 100 pitches. And Carl Pavano was / is MIA. Not to mention the fact that there is still a fifth slot to fill with Wright's departure.

The righty was shut down for two starts in July and these things have a nasty habit of flaring up again at the most inopportune moments. The Yankees don't need any more injuries to their pitchers right now, nor another Carl Pavano albatross around their necks.

The Yankees dealt Wright to Baltimore for 23-year old Chris Britton on Sunday. With Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth, and Brian Bruney set to return to the bullpen for the 2007 campaign, Britton won't start in the Bronx but at Triple-A Scranton with the possibility of a callup later in the year. Starters have priority right now instead of relievers, especially young starters. The Sheffield and Wright trades set up the 2008 and 2009 seasons, not 2007.

As for Sheffield, the list of teams that he provided the Yankees that stated where he'd like to be traded will probably never be known, but Detroit must have been on it, probably just for the fact that Sheffield's former Marlins manager, Jim Leyland, is now at the helm.