The Yankees have traded Gary Sheffield to the Tigers for three prospects. With the addition of the younger Bobby Abreu mid-season to replace the injured Sheffield, the Yankees no longer needed Sheff's services in RF. It would have been nice if their firstbase experiment had worked out. Because now the Yankees need a right-handed hitting firstbaseman (since Jason Giambi is slotted to be the full time DH). The only righty power hitter in the lineup now is ARod, and we all know how great he hits in the clutch (wink, wink). So, we need another righty bopper and someone with a good glove to man 1B. Did someone say Nomar?

The Yanks received three young righthanders from the Tigers organization:
Humberto Sanchez, a big 23 year-old 6-foot-6 starter who throws 97MPH. He was a combined 10-6 last season with a 2.53 ERA in Triple-A and Double-A. GM Brian Cashman said, "Sanchez obviously has a lot of potential. He has a lot of ability and we're planning on him going to spring training and hopefully take a lot of steps forward. We look at him as a long-term asset that hopefully we can cash in as early as '07."

Kevin Whelan, 22, was 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA and 27 saves in Class A ball last year.

Anthony Claggett, 22, was 7-2 with an 0.91 ERA and 14 saves also in Class A ball last year.

Sheffield signed a two year extension with Detroit through 2009 with an assurance he won't have to play 1B. After all the ripping of the Yanks Sheffield has done in the last week, he tried to go out on good terms: "I've always said I want to go out on my terms and they allowed me to do that, and I thank them for that."