Phillies still in running for Sheffield
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Phillies still in running for Sheffield
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The Phillies continue to play a game of wait-and-see with recently-released slugger Gary Sheffield. Sheffield's agent, Rufus Williams, said a few minutes ago that they have received some fresh inquiries from teams today and are still in the process of evaluating each prospective situation. They have not, however, ruled the Phillies out. Williams and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. spoke again today, and Williams re-iterated what he told the Daily News last night, that the talks were "productive."
Playing time remains a big concern for Sheffield, so I'd still have to consider the Phillies a long-shot. But it isn't clear who some of the other teams in the running are. The Reds had some interest as of earlier today. But they publicly said they weren't sure how much playing time Sheffield would get in Cincinnati, either.
I don't imagine we'll here anything more tonight.
That said, keep it locked to High Cheese and we'll keep you posted as best we can.
Comments (40)
The Phillies do need a right handed bat off the bench, but I don't think Sheffield is the answer. The Phils should use Cairo. He had a great Spring Training and has a better batting average than "Sheff" right now! Why change something if it is not broke??— japple1973- The Sheff......love to have him on board this repeat season but we'll have to wait like Murph says the Phils are doing on this one. Good Luck Rube!— XmarksTheSpot
- Billy Penn--go easy on him. He went to LaSalle.— somertonspartan
- I love how people compare him to TO. If he brings what TO brought with him, I have no complaints. If I recall, the Eagles best season out of the last 10 was the one with TO. A one year minimum salary contract is worth the gamble if they can get it done.— Gary Varsho
Comment removed.- Again, I don't care about personalities. The 1970’s Phillies had a few guys with personality issues who had a few confrontations or issues with managers/coaches, the media and the fans. That did not stop the ballclub from being one of the best teams of that era and eventually winning a WS in 1980. Reggie Jackson won like a hundred WSs for the A's and Yankees (Lou Pinella was on those Yankees teams along with manager Billy Martin) and he was known as one of the biggest egomaniacs ever. How about the wacko Dennis Rodman with the Bulls and Detroit? If Amaro thinks Sheffield can help the club, and I think he can, and Sheffield accepts a part-time OF/pinch hitting role, is worth the gamble. He can also play 1B, like Mark pointed out. He was brought up as an infielder by Milwaukee. If the Phillies were a young team in a rebuilding process, I would say no way. But this is a young but veteran team that won’t be affected by one player. Also, I don’t think Charlie would allow that to happen either. Everybody forgets that last year there were some issues with Myers (the confrontation in the mound and later in the dugout with Charlie and his demotion to the minors) and the benchings of Jimmy Rollins. Pat Burrell was not happy to be replaced after the 7th inning either.— EL Zorro
- Comment removed.
- Should have just kept Burrell.. What's going on with these idiots. We don't need this oversized ego on this team.......— MB2009
- I don't get the Sheff of the future man crush Amaro Jr. apparently has. He's an old cancer who can't play the OF. Why not look into Wily Mo Pena - he's 14 years younger and only a few years removed from a big year in Boston. Or they could try and trade for either Josh Willingham or Austin Kearns from the Nats. Washington has 6 outfielders on their roster now, they're going to have to make a move on one of them. My vote? Willingham 1st or Wily mo or Kearns 2nd... btw... I think kearns is owed 5 million this year. They might eat his salary by waiving him or would assume a great deal of the money in a trade.— terryharmon
- Comment removed.
- This is a real tough one. If he really will upset the chemistry, "No Way", on the other hand "Who Knows?" My vote, if I really had one would be "No Way". This team was built on Chemistry and I can't see this Shmuck doing anything but detracting from it, even if on a short term trial. And I would think that Cairo is actually better in that he plays multiple positions and hits for average. (Short term trial, not trail)— Philbert
- This is a real tough one. If he really will upset the chemistry, "No Way", on the other hand "Who Knows?" My vote, if I really had one would be "No Way". This team was built on Chemistry and I can't see this Shmuck doing anything but detracting from it, even if on a short term trail. And I would think that Cairo is actually better in that he plays multiple positions and hits for average.— Philbert
- Hell no. This team does not need an aging, steroid rage filled egomaniac.— rds260
- Shef is outspoken but has known to be a great teammate...He is still one of the most feared hitters in the major leagues when healthy...get him if we can..we need some right handed pop off the bench.— brickhead
- BillyPenn and Bennie the Frank are ill just thiking about this slug, Please Rubie, come to your senses. Even TJ Bohn would be an upgrade over the pathetic Shef.— mick314
- The only good thing about Sheffield is that his overblown contract with Detroit means he'd get a minimum salary to play here. But, because of that, he could become a cancer in the clubhouse with impunity, since the loss of his Phillies minimum salary would mean nothing to him.— gilbi
- Comment removed.
- Would you rather have Gary Sheffield or Miguel Cairo coming off the bench in the 8th inning to pinch-hit against a tough lefty? I will take Sheffield if he's willing to be a p/t player and can still play some outfield.— KMG
- The team still needs two relief pitchers!
- given the scandals with jom bowden and the latin minor leaguers, wasnt sheffield EXACTLY right? it seems like you guys just enjoy any excuse to play the race card when it comes to blacks...
- Obviously the braintrust knows way more about Sheffield than we do....I called them clueless for the two years preceeding their world title.....they proved me wrong by winning, maybe they'll prove all of you wrong with this move? What's not to like about Sheffield one game a week in the OF and occasionally spelling "Hands of Stone" at 1st against a tough lefty like Randy Johnson? He'll cover at least as much ground as Burrell in the OF and he won't K 4x/game against lefties when playing 1st......and there's no way his D at 1st can be any worse then Howard's......Add in the pinchhitting duty and I'd think he'd be a great addition. Scary for opposing managers and bullpens, just what we need.....a perfect piece of the puzzle about to be filled in. Go for it, Rube.— Mark1npt
- juice or no juice he can play ball, especially off the bench— sore richard
Thank you, Curse of Billy. As an old f#rt, I've noticed that many under-30s, even those who write for a living, spell atrociously. Murphy is a prime example. And in the age of blogs, misspellings are exposed, whereas on old newspapers, some old f#rt like me would have been on staff as a copy editor to catch them before the public did.- chefs! ha ha good one wu wu— chollie
- my opinion. i really believe these writers are full of s**t about the phillies going after sheffield.— JACK V
- bring him in, let him get 500 Home runs and then kick him tot he curb when one of the right hand hitting iron pigs is ready to pinch hit on a regular basis, the Chef will come cheap as the Tigers still have to pay him— BHite15
- Comment removed.
- Detroit cut him. Now there's a juggernaut.
- Rufus-That's an agents name you don't hear often enough.— misterpet
- Who's Cario? Sheff hit 225 last year, 265 the year before. He is not the same 499 HR hitter he was with the steroids.— mikemaddog
- Has there ever been a player the fans almost unanimously didn't want? Usually we're begging for pitcher X or slugger Y, but on this one 98% of the fan base wants no part of Sheffield. Yet oddly enough management is doing everything they can to get him... He is basically the opposite of everything they preach about building a team.— phillygreg
- HELL yes— smarterthanu
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Ummmmmm....it is hear...not here...do you get paid for this? good lord.
- The Phils need some RH help.. hard to say if Philly ownership can make this happen, but I'm all for it seeing what Sheffield has done AL or otherwise. He's a great righty which they desperately need.— iggles48
- No WAY! This is the schmuck who said that MLB had an affinity for Latin American baseball players because they were more placid and stayed 'in-line' far easier than the superior-skilled-more-strong-willed-Black baseball players. The Phillies need him like they need Jesse Jackson as 1st-base coach and Al Sharpton as 3rd-base coach. NOT. He's highly skilled but cancerous to clubhouse morale.— zen
- Hell no. Remember that Knick's guard and that Bronco's QB? What's he gonna say about Manuel at the end of his contract? Very bad for chemistry. Just say No.— bigbagoonglover
- I say Bring him on!!! A 500 home run hitter coming off the bench to hit in our park! Sheffield or Cario?? ummm no brainer here... Good work Murph keep us updated!!— jbuzz25
- No. Don't need the BS that comes with that jerk. Off the juice he's not that guy anyway.— steelydad
1
Popular Posts
About this blog
High Cheese is your place for the best Phillies coverage from the Daily News.
David Murphy
Daily News Staff Writer
Ryan Lawrence
Daily News Staff Writer
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
