On November 10, 2006, the New York Yankees
traded right outfielder and first baseman Gary Sheffield to the 2006 American League Champions Detroit Tigers.The Yankees traded Gary Sheffield for a righthanded pitcher Humberto Sanchez, right-handed pitcher Kevin Whelan, and right-handed pitcher Anthony Claggett.
During the 2006 season, Sheffield was out for half of the season due to a wrist injury. The following was stated on the Yankees website “Sheffield, 37, batted .298 (45-for-151) with six home runs and 25 RBI in 39 games for the Yankees in 2006. He missed a total of 117 team games while on the disabled list recovering from an injury to his left wrist. Sheffield was signed by
the Yankees to a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth year on Dec. 17, 2003.”
When trading Sheffield the acquired Humberto Sanchez who was 10-6 with a 2.63 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 20 games (20 starts) while he was playing for Detroit Minor League team Triple- A Toledo and Double-A Erie in the 2006 season.
The second player the Yankees acquired was Kevin Whelan. Kevin Whelan had 27 saves in 2006 while playing for the Tigers minor league team Class-A Lakeland Tigers. His stats for 2006 were 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA in only 51 games while he played in the 2006 season.
The last player the Yankees gained with the trade of Sheffield was Anthony Claggett.The following was stated on The Yankees website “Claggett, 22, posted a 7-2 record with a team-best 0.91 ERA and 14 saves in 51 games for Class-A West Michigan in 2006 (59.1IP, 35H, 7R, 6ER, 20BB, 58K). He held opposing hitters to a .174 batting average (35-for-201) and did not allow a run in his final 10 appearances of the season. He was selected by the Tigers in the 11th round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of UC Riverside.”
When it comes down to it no one will know if the trade was a good idea or a bad idea until baseball season begins again in 2007.