I don’t think Gary Sheffield is a bad man. Ryu Jae-kuk and Brett Myers can be used as examples of bad men (though to be fair to Ryu and Myers, Ryu was young and immature—where have I heard that one before?—and Myers has been in marriage counseling since the incident.) The problem with Shef is that he’s honest; in a world of clichéd responses, Sheffield speaks his mind. To paraphrase Voltaire, while I disapprove of what Shef says, I will defend to the death his right to say it. Still, it’s hard to understand why he says things that can only hurt him, such as admitting to throwing balls away in order to get traded or calling Joe Torre a racist.

However, I also don’t think Gary Sheffield is a dumb man. C-Rex not believing dinosaurs is kind of dumb, but Sheffield is pretty savvy. His constant contract disputes have yielded him over $128 million throughout his career. While one could argue a player of his caliber would have earned that amount without the constant disputes, Sheffield is actually being paid more this season, at age 40, than any other season in his career which is pretty amazing. Additionally, in 2004, Sheffield admitted to unknowingly taking steroids in the past. The admission was questionable at a time when MLB was looking to avoid controversy and the consequences for known users were uncertain. Sheffield underwent a minor controversy but was not punished by Selig. The admission would prove well timed, when in 2007, the Mitchell Report would name, among others, Sheffield as a user. While Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada are still in legal trouble with the U.S. government and another BALCO client, Alex Rodriguez, deals with controversy, Sheffield can sit back, knowing his controversial, honest mouth saved him a lot of headache. The latest example of Sheffield being savvy brings us home to the Mets; Sheffield’s quotes to the media since joining the Mets have been along these lines:

“It’s been a lifelong thing for me,” Sheffield said Saturday about following Gooden to the Mets. “I wanted to fulfill my dream. I have a chance to win a championship here. If it comes to me coming off the bench, I’ll do that.” -NY Daily News

“I realize I’m at a point in my career where I’m not a marquee guy to come in here and demand anything or demand a position,” said Sheffield, whose wife and sons joined him at his press conference. “I’m so much at peace with where I’m at, that I’m coming in here and I’m going to win a championship. If it takes me coming off the bench to do that, I’m willing to do that.” -The Star Ledger

Do I really believe that Sheffield dreamed of playing for the Mets since Doc Gooden brought him to the clubhouse as a child? Not really, he has shown throughout his career that money is his dream, not that I’m judging. Concurrently, I also don’t believe that he really would be content coming off the bench. His options were extremely limited this year (being released a week before the season opens will do that.) Of the interested teams, none could start him and the Mets offered the most playing time. Having playing time is key for a 40-year-old that needs to show he deserves a contract next year if he wants to continue his career. Thus, I believe his quotes this past week; have been another example of Sheffield showing how smart he really is. He’s saying the right things and will probably do the right things in order to get a contract next year, which is good for him, but more importantly to me, good for the Mets. However, with all that being said, can Sheffield even play baseball anymore? Let’s take a look at the projection:

Proj.      AVE   OBA   SLG
PECOTA    .245  .341  .415

For comparison, here are the PECOTA projections for our current outfield options:

Player             AVE   OBA   SLG
Ryan Church       .254  .336  .422
Daniel Murphy     .264  .328  .407
Fernando Tatis    .245  .325  .401
Nick Evans        .255  .320  .428

PECOTA sees Sheffield as a slight improvement over our current corps, however once his defense is taking into consideration, it’s probably about even, if not a slight regression from our current outfield group. However, Mets fans that like the move realize that Shef is not replacing any of our OF, he’s on a single mission. To go SAT testing on you, Arnold:Sarah Conner, Shef:Marlon Anderson.

PECOTA pegs Marlon with a putrid .241/.308/.363 line. Marlon’s top comparable player is the immortal Barney McCosky, whose career probably peaked when he hit .724 his senior year of high school. Looking over the last few years of McCosky career, the comp is actually pretty close to what Marlon is going through.

Anderson         Age          McCosky
.264/.316/.391    31    .326/.405/.386
.297/.354/.513    32       D   N   P
.295/.343/.463    33    .240/.323/.307
.210/.255/.275    34    .268/.340/.377
   D   N   P      35    .213/.284/.325
   D   N   P      36    .190/.227/.333

Both players had their limitations but, due to small sample sizes, were able to put up useful years in their early thirties. But Marlon’s age 34 season looks like a worse version of McCosky’s age 35 season. The final season of McCosky’s career and his retirement cement what Mets fans already know, Marlon is done.

Conversely, Sheffield’s top comp is Brian Downing. Let’s stack their careers to see if we can glean into Shef’s future:

Sheffield        Age           Downing
.291/.379/.512    36    .272/.400/.487
.298/.355/.450    37    .242/.362/.442
.265/.378/.462    38    .283/.354/.414
.225/.326/.400    39    .273/.374/.467
   D   N   P      40    .278/.377/.455
   D   N   P      41    .278/.407/.428

Again, I can see the thinking of PECOTA, as both players exhibit a similar skillset in regards to their triple slashes. What’s most promising for Shef and the Mets, is the fact that even though Shef had an awful season (by his standards) last year, PECOTA still has him “top compared” with a guy who continued to hit very well until his retirement after his age-41 season.

Overall, I like the move. Marlon Anderson on the roster was redundant. Anything Marlon could do, Cora (defense at second), Tatis (defense at third/left, hit), and Reed (defense outfield, hit) could do better. Sheffield on the other hand can hit left-handed pitching better than anyone on the Mets’ bench and has the potential to outhit our current corner outfielder. If he pouts or really has lost it, he’s cut, and My Boy Nick Evans is brought up. But, again, I think Sheffield is too savvy to pout in a contract year, or—who knows—maybe this really is his dream.

One last quote via waswatching via the Post (link broken,)

“Six words from his son Jaden Amir were enough to make Gary Sheffield delete [sic?] chewing tobacco from his mouth. “My 3-year-old son was at home and my wife said he said, ‘Daddy, I got my spit cup,’” Sheffield said yesterday, the 15th day he didn’t stuff his cheek with tobacco. “My wife said he was emulating me at the park when he was playing baseball a couple of months ago. That’s not the example I want to set. He kept repeating it.” So, two weeks ago Sheffield went cold turkey.”