The Slanch Report

Gary Sheffield possessed the quickest wrists in baseball for a fair period of time. When the Tigers acquired him to fill their DH hole I thought it was a great move, even the extension they signed him to seemed reasonable. Unfortunately his time with the Tiggers is over, they cut ties with him today, granting him his unconditional release. Even MORE unfortunately for Sheffield, he remains stuck at 499 HRs. Even though his bat has noticeably slowed, he doesn’t have the health to play the outfield on a regular basis and he’s never been a model teammate, I imagine SOMEONE will pick him up at some point. Maybe a team like the Royals or the Twins could use a decent bat off the bench in a part-time role. As much as I’ve disliked Sheffield over the years I’ve always respected his abilities and been scared of him during important at-bats. Also, I’m simply overwhelmed by the fact that Sheffield came up as a SHORTSTOP before shifting to third, before eventually becoming an outfielder. I find that awesome. So, bonne chance M. Sheffield, I hope you get that 500th home run and then go away.