Now we know why the Yankees picked up Gary Sheffield’s $13 million option. Less then a week after doing so, Brian Cashman turned the aging Gary Sheffield into three pitching prospects. Not a bad deal. I thought Gary Sheffield should net more, but I think with him coming off of the season he had in 2006, we have to take what we can get.
The jewel is Humberto Sanchez, although even he has some downside. He’s already 24 and had been pretty disappointing (mediocre if you’re being nice) up until this year. He started in Double A (for the second straight season) and was very dominating. Then he moved up to Triple A and did some more dominating until his elbow gave out. He was shut down in early August and you’d hope the doctors have taken a look at him to make sure everything is kosher.
Kevin Wheelan and Anthony Claggett are both relief pitchers. Both had very nice seasons in their respective leagues (High A for Wheelan, Low A for Claggett) and they’re both 22. Don’t expect to see either guy in pinstripes anytime too soon. Maybe as September callups in 2007 but assuming we got what we paid for, we should see them both some time in 2008.
Of course Sheffield is the odd man out after the Yanks traded for Bobby Abreu. The thought was to play him at first base, but Sheffield obviously didn’t want that. So away he goes, and to the team that knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs this year.
Best case scenario is that Sanchez is a back of the rotation starter. Durability is definitely and issue though so starting him in the pen might not be all bad.
I guess I don’t feel strongly one way or the other on the deal. I know why it went down, but until some of these pitchers start playing, there’s no way for any of us to tell who got the better end of the stick.
