Gary Sheffield is one of many Tigers off to slow starts this season. Jim Rogash/Getty Images Jon Heyman's Mailbag Got a question or comment for Jon? Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

The Sheffield Shuffle

Judging by his play, one DH who appears to be closer to the end than Thomas is Gary Sheffield, whose bat has been nearly impotent since last August (he hit one home run after Aug. 10 last year). However, with the Tigers contracted to pay Sheffield $28 million for this year and next, he's in no danger of suffering the same pink-slip fate as Thomas.

Thomas wasn't completely coming out of left field when he told the Sun, "I know I haven't hit the ball that well but I'm not the only f------ player. Look at (Gary) Sheffield with Detroit, (David) Ortiz with Boston. I know I can hit, that I can get on fire.''

Sheffield, as is his habit, is claiming his .192 batting average and two RBIs in 52 at-bats is caused by pain. Nobody talks about their own pain more than he does. This time, he says it's his shoulder.

Sheffield has been killing the Tigers since late last year when his hitting woes contributed to their surprisingly bad finish to last season. Now he's in the middle of their stunningly bad start to this season.

Around the Majors

• How bad is this injury epidemic? It's got Tom Glavine (hamstring), who had to go on the disabled list for the first time in his career.

• And it's got Jimmy Rollins (ankle), who never misses a game.

• And now Alex Rodriguez (quad), who almost never misses one, is hurting, too.

• Manny Acta had a charmed rookie season managing in Washington. But now he's going to have to deal with an unhappy Dmitri Young, who was signed to a two-year, $10-million contract and will be behind Nick Johnson at first when he comes off the D.L.

• And Acta has to deal with Lastings Milledge and his youthful mistakes. There were a lot of fan complaints in New York when he was traded, but the Mets were probably right that they couldn't live with his errors of adolescence. He's not a winning player yet. In the first game against the Mets, he tried an ill-advised steal of second (and was thrown out), and in the second, after Mets starter John Maine walked two batters and went to 2-and-0 on Milledge, Milledge swung at a bad ball.

• Yet another Nats problem is closer Chad Cordero, who was clocked throwing 76-82 mph. After Cordero publicly said his problem was a lack of time to warm up vs. the Mets, he and Acta had a closed-door meeting.

• Maybe Acta was jinxed by catching President Bush's first thrown ball to start the season. Hey, it couldn't have helped.

• Hideo Nomo's career may finally be winding down now that the Royals have released the first Japanese pitcher to star in the United States.

• The Red Sox have been hoping to work out the Jacoby Ellsbury-Coco Crisp centerfield issue by June. Which means they still have plenty of time to find a home for Crisp.

• The Cubs make sense for either Crisp or Kenny Lofton, especially now that Alfonso Soriano is hurt. Lofton is a guy who should have a job. He turned down a Rays' offer earlier and is looking for the right situation. The East Chicago, Ind. native played for the Cubs in the heartbreaking year of 2003.

• Having Tim Lincecum (3-0, 1.57) alone means the Giants can't be a total waste.

• Micah Owings is one of many things to love about the Diamondbacks. Manager Bob Melvin left Owings in to hit even though he was about to pull him from a game. He's a .314 career hitter (with a .614 slugging percentage). The Yankees tried hard for Owings in Randy Johnson trade talks after the 2006 season, even offering to send Arizona a few million more if they'd include him. No go.

• Doug Davis, who recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid, has started "49 Fund,'' to benefit children with cancer, a very worthy endeavor. To donate, click on dbacks.com/49fund.

• There are whispers that there's something wrong with C.C. Sabathia's arm (though no real evidence, other than his pitching). He allowed nine runs in back-to-back games, an ignominious feat accomplished only by Jose Contreras last season.

• Joe Crede was so bad this spring, nobody wanted to trade anything good for him. Yet, he's been one of the best power hitters (five HRs, 18 RBIs) so far this season.

• Ben Sheets, off to a great start at 3-0 with an 0.96 ERA, is hurt again. And all of Milwaukee holds its breath now that he has what's being called "tightness in his right triceps.'' He's going to be one of the most interesting free-agent cases ever this winter, a tremendous talent who's about as fragile as a paper cup in a hurricane.

• Kyle Farnsworth deserved every bit of that three-game suspension for throwing at Manny Ramirez. His defense that he wasn't ejected from the game at the time is really no defense. The umpire has little time to think about it after Farnwsorth whipped one behind Ramirez's head and lamely claimed, "It slipped.'' MLB's powers did not have any such handicap.

• After the Rays gave Evan Longoria a $17.5-million, six-year contract six games into his major-league tenure, it's safe to assume they agreed with everyone else that he's already a big leaguer in terms of talent. But even though his tenure is rather brief, the consensus in baseball is that Tampa got an excellent deal.