From the New York Post’s George King.
“I am not allowed to be comfortable,” Sheffield said at Roger Dean Stadium where the Yankees beat the Marlins, 8-3, yesterday. “That’s the reality of my situation. I always have to play with my back to the wall. Just one more year of that and I don’t have to do it no more. It’s always my situation. It’s always, I’ve got to be somewhere for one or two years, they re-evaluate from here and there and then go from there.”
Since he said he was happy as a Yankee early in camp, Sheffield was asked if something had changed.
“I am not getting into that,” said Sheffield, who is in the final season of a three-year contract worth $39 million. The club holds a $13 million option for 2007 that, according to GM Brian Cashman, hasn’t been picked up yet.
Not that I mind a little revisionist history every now and then, but was Sheff playing with his back against the wall in Milwaukee and San Diego? Either way, he was one for three in the Yankees’ 2-0 win against Cleveland earlier today, raising his spring batting average to .083. Randy Johnson scattered 4 singles in 6 scoreless innings while striking out nine.
After the game, Al Leiter announced his retirement. Hitters throughout the AL consoled themselves with the knowledge that Scott Erickson still has an outside chance of heading north with the Yankees.