I’ll be honest. I’m very relieved that the Gary Sheffield saga ended here in Detroit yesterday.
Signing him was a mistake in the first place — and one that seemed to haunt the Detroit Tigers both financially and emotionally. It has long been speculated that Sheffield was bad blood in the clubhouse. And it wasn’t like he was making up for it on the field.
In reality, Sheffield’s release should have happened sometime last season. I’m not sure why the Tigers held on to him as long as they did. Perhaps it was wishful thinking that somehow, some way, he was going to come back from his injuries and piece together a respectable final year. Now we know for certain it will never happen.
A $14 million mistake here; an $11 million mistake there. Those start adding up. Between Sheffield and Dontrelle Willis, the Tigers will be shelling out $25 million this year and getting nothing in return. That’s bad management — and GM Dave Dombrowski is much better than that. Let’s hope Dombrowski gets back to his old ways of identifying and signing young talent. That’s what got him to the World Series just three seasons ago.
Goodbye, Gary Sheffield. And good riddance.
