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On the block Dodgers attempting to meet Sheffield's trade demand
Updated: Tuesday February 20, 2001 11:08 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Gary Sheffield is demanding a new contract or a new team, the latest crisis in a string of trouble for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The six-time All-Star said he wanted a trade to the New York Yankees, New York Mets or Atlanta Braves. Already, Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone has tried to deal the slugging outfielder. The Dodgers offered Sheffield to the Mets for either Mike Piazza or Edgardo Alfonzo, but the NL champions weren't interested. "I can't fathom a deal where I would trade either of those two guys," Mets general manager Steve Phillips said Monday. "Nobody is untouchable, but they are as close to untouchable as you can get." The Yankees didn't completely rule out a deal. "I don't know if we can afford it with what we have right now," owner George Steinbrenner said. "He's a good guy, but he has a big contract." Sheffield, 32, has been the Dodgers' best hitter since being acquired from Florida in a 1998 deal for Piazza. The left fielder hit .325 with 43 homers and 109 RBIs last season.
Sheffield is owed $9.5 million in each of the next two seasons and $11 million in 2003. There's a team option for 2004 at $11 million. Salaries spiraled higher over the winter, spurred by Alex Rodriguez's 10-year, $252 million free-agent contract with Texas. The Dodgers have baseball's highest payroll at more than $110 million, and have refused to give Sheffield the extension and bonuses he wants. Still, Sheffield said his demands weren't about money. "It's about the disrespect I've had to deal with since I came here," Sheffield told the Los Angeles Times. "Every year I hear my name mentioned with some trade for some other star player. "Why should I continue to perform the way I have for them if I'm going to be dangled out there like that all the time? Obviously, they don't appreciate me, so why not just send me someplace where I will be appreciated?" he said. Sheffield has said he does not intend to show up at spring training with the Dodgers at Vero Beach, Fla., by the mandatory reporting date of Feb. 27. "We will do everything we can to accommodate him, but we're not going to make a deal unless we get fair value," Malone said at training camp. "We will do what's in the best interest of the Los Angeles Dodgers." "If Gary's not here on Feb. 27, the situation will be resolved," he said. The Dodgers have not won a postseason game since winning the 1988 World Series. Los Angeles was swept in the opening round of the 1995 and 1996 playoffs. Los Angeles went 86-76 last year and finished 11 games behind San Francisco in the NL West. After the season, manager Davey Johnson was fired. New manager Jim Tracy, the fourth Dodgers' skipper since Tommy Lasorda retired midway through the 1996 season, did not want to talk about Sheffield. "As far as I'm concerned, that's still outside the lines. It's really not a situation I want to discuss," he said. "Crises come and go. You weather the storm, reset the sails and move on." Jesse Orosco, the 43-year-old reliever recently signed by Los Angeles, said losing Sheffield would be a big blow. "How would you feel if you lose 43 home runs and 109 RBIs from your lineup? It's a tough situation because he hasn't been traded yet," Orosco said. "And if he does come back, you have to wonder as a teammate, 'Is he going to have the same fire that he had last year?'" Sheffield has talked to his uncle, Yankees pitcher Dwight Gooden. "He felt it was time to move on," Gooden said. "Mostly, I just told him let the agent and the team handle it and try and stay out of it as much as you can."
"Obviously for me, I'd like to see him here," he said. "But the Mets, that would be an ideal fit for him as well. Put him in the middle of the lineup with Piazza -- two hitters like that, you'd have to throw to one of them."
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