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Dodge ball Sheffield's recent turnaround calms storm for now
Talk about your power business meetings. During a spring game Sunday in Jupiter, Fla., Mark McGwire told Gary Sheffield as he jogged by, "Meet me back by the clubhouse later." An hour later, after both players had been removed from the game, McGwire and Sheffield talked for 15 minutes in the weight room of the Cardinals' complex. McGwire had asked for the meeting after he'd heard Sheffield was upset about comments McGwire had made about players honoring their contracts. The two of them agreed the meeting was beneficial because each was able to clarify his position to the other. "We talked about how players should stick together," Sheffield said. "He didn't know what my situation was all about and I was able to explain some things to him." Said McGwire, "I wanted him to know that I never had a problem with what he was doing. He wasn't looking to renegotiate his contract, to tear it up. He wanted years added to it so he knew he'd be staying in one place. I never had a problem with that. I made some comments about once a player signs a contract he has to live by it, and I think what happened was somehow it got back to Gary that I was talking about him. Things got distorted. That was never my intention. He's a good guy. I'm glad we had a chance to talk. It went very well." Meanwhile, Sheffield credited his teammates with convincing him to drop his request for a trade Saturday. Several teammates, particularly Marquis Grissom, had lobbied him over several days to remain a Dodger. Asked whether his truce was actually meant to facilitate a trade by improving the Dodgers' bargaining position, Sheffield said, "No, that's not what this is about. This is about my teammates and my true fans. The biggest thing was my teammates telling me that they needed me and they wanted me to stay. They kept saying they wanted me more than any player they could get back in a trade for me. I owe it to them and to my true fans to just forget about this and move on." Truth be told, the Dodgers never came close to pulling the trigger on a deal, partly because, according to a club source, chairman Bob Daly ``still has never given [GM] Kevin [Malone] a clear directive on what to do, to trade him or not trade him." Malone tried to create a market for Sheffield with a flurry of calls. The idea was not only to assess interest, but also to give interested teams the impression that this would be a bidding situation, and not the over-the-barrel jam the Dodgers appeared to be in. For instance, Malone called the Astros several times to ask about Moises Alou. Every time he was told clearly that Houston had no interest in trading Alou. Rumors floated and sank. The Pokey Reese-Dmitri Young-Scott Williamson package from Cincinnati was a sham. The Braves thought if they waited they could get Sheffield for Brian Jordan and another player -- a lesser piece than John Rocker -- but the Dodgers had concerns about Jordan's health (the right fielder had surgery on both shoulders last winter). The Mets didn't want to part with top prospect Alex Escobar and also wanted to pass off spare parts such as Dennis Cook and Darryl Hamilton as part of a deal. The Yankees remain intrigued about Sheffield -- one AL source even said the club was working back channels to find out if Sheffield would defer salary to join the Yanks -- but the Dodgers aren't certain about David Justice and his ability to play the outfield every day. L.A. would prefer to pick up a right-handed hitter, anyway. New York might be wise to resist dealing Alfonso Soriano, who has wowed every scout in Florida with his play this spring. Soriano, whom the Mariners also have an eye on, is at last showing the hitting talent and style that some scouts say reminds them of a poor man's Vladimir Guerrero. What is clear is that Sheffield's change of heart Saturday quiets the issue for now, but does not end it entirely. Malone, given a chance to put trade rumors to rest, declined to say Sheffield isn't going anywhere. ``We're keeping all of our options open,'' he said. ``I'm not saying we will trade him but I'm not saying we won't trade him.'' Then there is the matter of what happens when the season starts and Sheffield gets booed in Los Angeles. He is getting soundly razzed in Florida camps, but that's nothing compared to 45,000 people in your home stadium. How Sheffield reacts to the fans could send the story into another orbit. Stay tuned. Big Mac ahead of scheduleMcGwire still can't make it from home to first in under five seconds -- he is positively glacial -- and his mobility around the first base bag isn't exactly Twyla Tharp pretty, but that's not about to dampen McGwire's enthusiasm about his return from surgery to repair patellar tendinitis in his knee. The fact that he is playing at all and having no unforeseen complications with the knee has left the St. Louis slugger optimistic. ``The medical people weren't even sure I'd be playing in the middle of the March, so I feel real good about where I am,'' McGwire said. ``The doctors told me that I would feel some soreness. That's related to the surgery, not the knee. And they say that soreness can be there for up to a year after the surgery. That's what I'm feeling now, just normal soreness. The only time the knee doesn't feel quite right is when I pull up after running. That's when I feel it. That's it. It hasn't hindered me fielding or hitting. "When I spent three months on the DL last year that was like rehabbing. So that has put me ahead of schedule. I've been able to come back quicker from the surgery than they thought." McGwire has every bit of his trademark power. That was evident in his batting practice session on Sunday. McGwire hit three balls that struck the roof of the Expos' complex far beyond the leftfield wall at Roger Dean Stadium. The balls bounced off the roof and over the other side of the two-story building. The blasts were so ridiculously long that Dodgers players who were stretching near the batting cage at the time simply laughed out loud. Shortstop shoppingRemember the name John McDonald. No young middle infielder in baseball has better hands than the 26-year-old Indians prospect -- and other teams know it. They also know he is stuck behind Omar Vizquel. McDonald, in fact, has been compared to Vizquel because he has such naturally soft and quick hands. He's also an industrious blue-collar worker. The Orioles, Red Sox and Angels call the Indians every day about McDonald, often twice a day. The Red Sox have a particularly urgency, now that Nomar Garciaparra's split wrist tendon is worse than originally feared and the possibility of surgery is beginning to emerge. There is no way Boston is going to start the season with Mike Lansing at shortstop. The problem with the trade talks is that Boston wants to deal for McDonald as if he's a utility player when in fact he would become their everyday shortstop. So far the Indians aren't biting. Given the colossal mistake of taking on Lansing's contract, Boston should be wary about bringing in an expensive veteran on the down side of his career again, such as Chris Gomez or Pat Meares. McDonald would hold together what is an awful infield defense in Boston. More Riches for the RichThe prospects just keep coming in the Atlanta system. The latest to follow in the Ryan Klesko-Javy Lopez-Chipper Jones-Andruw Jones-Kevin Millwood-Rafael Furcal- etc. pipeline are 20-year-old shortstop Wilson Betemit and 24-year-old closer Billy Sylvester. The 6-foot-2 Betemit is growing into a power-hitting shortstop with soft hands. "There's no reason to think he'd have to change positions down the road,'' Braves hitting coach Merv Rettenmund said. "He could play in the big leagues right now and not embarrass himself, but he needs to get games under his belt. That's all. He's going to be a No. 3 hitter in the big leagues.'' Sylvester put up outstanding numbers in Class A Myrtle Beach last year: 16 hits and four earned runs in 45 2/3 innings. The right-hander has an explosive fastball and biting knucklecurve. Sylvester is a long shot to make the Atlanta bullpen -- especially with 22-year-old Jason Marquis showing he belongs now -- but the Braves haven't ruled him out, either. They have pushed prospects quickly before, including Odalis Perez, Kevin McGlinchy and Furcal. If Sylvester shows he's ready, the Braves won't hold him back. The Royal familyPeople in the Royals organization chuckled when Sheffield put Kansas City on his preferred teams list last week when he wanted out of Los Angeles. The Royals are the most disciplined team in baseball, and there is little room for individual expression on the club. During batting practice no player wears his cap backward or a nylon windbreaker -- nothing but the standard issue uniform for one and for all. The most telling sign that manager Tony Muser runs a tight ship is his foul line rule. Nobody is allowed to cross the foul line and on to the field of any practice field until the exact moment a workout officially begins. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers baseball for the
magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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