BALTIMORE – This wasn’t Gary Sheffield’s first rodeo, you know. He’d been in this spot before, teed up on the trading block, teed off at the world. He knew very well what he was doing yesterday when he issued frank warnings to the rest of baseball at large, and to the Mets specifically.
He knew he was killing any chance of the Mets and the Yankees continuing to ponder the possibility of a Sheffieldfor- Mike Cameron trade.
And minutes later, he got his wish. This trade goes away – for now. The lingering residue of Sheffield’s time-bomb personality does not.
“If I’m traded, I’m not going to be happy,” Sheffield vowed yesterday, before the finale of this three-game series between the Yankees and Orioles was rained out. “And if I’m unhappy, you don’t want me on your team. Period.”
That should’ve been enough for the Mets, for now and forever. There may not be a no-trade clause in Sheffield’s contract, but that’s just a legal technicality. Sheffield made it clear that he intends to be an instant carcinogen in any clubhouse he’s traded to. He will mope. He will complain. He will insist upon an extension, at big money, and for every penny he deferred when he signed with the Yankees.
The Mets had to realize something: when Gary Sheffield announces his intention to be a malcontent, he honors that commitment.
“I love Omar Minaya,” Sheffield said. “But this is more personal than anything. It has nothing to do with him.”
Sheffield really is a beauty. In one breath, he says if he were ever traded, he would retire before agreeing to report anywhere, hinting that he has plenty of money. Then, after a pause, he says he’ll squeeze any new team for every nickel he can.
“I don’t need to play for the money,” he says.
“I won’t ask for a dime more than I have coming to me,” he says. And then he starts in about the Yankees expecting him to do things “that they don’t pay me for.” Asked to expound upon that, he mentioned leadership, playing with fire, playing with pain. Things otherwise known as “professionalism.”
“I ain’t stupid,” he said. No, that’s one adjective you’ll never hear before Sheffield’s name. But it is hysterical to hear him lament how often he’s been accused in his career of having character shortcomings, all the while he’s presenting more than enough testimony to hang himself.
It’s also pretty funny to listen to Sheffield talk as if he’s bled pinstripes his whole life, especially if you remember that he angered George Steinbrenner so much with his bad-faith negotiating in the offseason of 2003-04 that Steinbrenner temporarily switched his attention to Vlad Guerrero before Sheffield came back with hat in hand, unable to locate a more suitable sugar daddy.
Four years ago – the last time Sheffield came this close to calling Shea Stadium home – a clubhouse consortium led by Todd Zeile and Robin Ventura all but signed a petition keeping him away. The Mets were killed for that at the time, but suddenly it sounds like one of the most fortuitous decisions they’ve made in years.
“This always happens to me,” Sheffield moaned yesterday, as if the reason the back of his baseball card reads like a traveling salesman’s itinerary is purely accidental.
Sheffield wears out his welcome quicker than a sweatsock, something the Yankees have already discovered, something everyone else learned yesterday.
Would the trade have made sense? You bet. It filled two gaping holes – the one in centerfield for the Yankees, and the one in Cameron’s heart, where he still holds a torch for his old position. And it would have given the Mets the most dangerous 3-4-5 batting order in the NL East.
And it still should have been the Mets who demurred, after Sheffield zipped open his mouth and let a barrel of bile pour out, officially putting the Mets on notice. Sheffield can be one of the best players in baseball when he’s properly motivated.
And when he’s not – when he’s already pledged to pout every minute of every day – then you have something else entirely. Sheffield is about to be somebody’s problem; the Mets are better off letting that be the Yankees.
Sheffield is arrogant, he’s moody, he’s temperamental – but he’s smart as hell. You bet he wanted to kill this deal as quickly as he could.
Mission accomplished.
