Sheffield United

What you didn't read in the New York local coverage of the Gary Sheffield trade to the Detroit Tigers is what kind of prospects we got in return. The Times buried it about three grafs from the bottom of the story. The Post, Newsday and the News did a little better, noting before the jump that Humberto Sanchez, the most gifted of the three prospects, was shut down in the second half due to elbow problems.

Also noteworthy in the Post story was Derek Jeter's quote:

"It's unfortunate from the sense that he's a good friend, but you wish him the best," Derek Jeter said about losing Sheffield as a teammate. "He's entitled to his opinion. Everybody's entitled to their opinion. I'm sure he was a little bit frustrated, too."

This about a man who basically called GM Brian Cashman a corporate cog, Bobby Abreu a scrub and Joe Torre a know-nothing buffoon. And still more charitable than Jeter ever was about Alex Rodriguez. Way to go, Captain.

But I digress. With the understanding that the Yankees have to get younger and have to start populating their system with some promising ore, I can't help wishing that at least one of these guys were left-handed. But Sanchez, who can throw into the mid-90s, did a nice job mowing down hitters in Toledo before getting hurt in August. In his 51.1 innings, his strikeout rates took a dip, but his walk rates stayed constant, which is a pretty good sign. And he does a damn good job of keeping the ball in the park. With Jaret Wright heading to Baltimore, he may get a shot in the rotation sooner rather than later.

Kevin Whelan, 22, has further to go spending last year in high A-ball as a reliever. In 54 innings, he gave up 1 dinger, although his control isn't exceptional. But he's another hard thrower (topping out at 95). I'm guessing he arrives in the Bronx in 2008 or 2009 if things break right.

From everything I've read, Anthony Claggett, an 11th-round pick in 2005, was the throw-in here, although his 59.1 innings in Western Michigan weren't too shabby.

But at the end of the day, Gary Sheffield is a timebomb waiting to go off, in more ways than one. He proved me wrong in 2004 and 2005 and gave the Yankees some great years. But the Yankees got younger and better in RF. So if not necessarily good riddance, well, see ya down the road.