It has been a little over a year since the Yankees unloaded Gary Sheffield for Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggert, I thought it was time to take a look back and see how the Yankees have done so far. Lets look at the key pieces of the deal;
Gary Sheffield
First, lets look at what Sheffield did in Detroit;
2007 Recap
.265/.378/.462 with 25 Hrs and 75 Rbi in 133 games.
Gary got off to a very slow and finished with .172 avgerge in September. He also missed some time due to injury and all this after signing an extension that runs through 2009.
Going Forward
The tigers can't be happy with their return and at the age of 38 his decline might be getting worse not better.
Humberto Sanchez
2007 Recap
Humberto was the key to the deal with a mid 90's fastball and polish. However, he never threw an inning last year and underwent tommy john surgery.
Going Forward
This trade will most likely hinge on how he bounces back this year from TJ surgery. The Yankees apparently knew he was going to need surgery and made the deal anyway, another high risk high reward move with a young pitcher.
Kevin Whelan
2007 Recap
Whelan started the year in high A and dominated (3.54 h/9 sub 1 whip). He was then promoted to AA and his wildness returned (6.96 BB/9) to go with a low hit rate and high strikeouts.
Going Forward
He has the stuff to be a lights-out closer but must do a better job of controlling the strike zone. 2008 will be a huge year for him, if he can't improve his control he will never be back of the bullpen force.
Anthony Claggert
2007 Recap
The Yankees reworked his mechanics and switched him to starting to try and extend his innings. He still profiles as a middle reliever/setup man but the change made him pitch more towards contact and he had success (3.69 era and a promotion to Trenton to close the year).
Going Forward
Will most likely start the year in Trenton and still profiles well as a sixth inning guy.
