Associated Press
LAKELAND, Fla. ó Gary Sheffield’s next home run will be his 500th in the major leagues. The question is: What uniform will he be wearing when he hits it?
Detroit released the nine-time All-Star on Tuesday. The World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, however, quickly called the slugger to see if there was a fit.
“I wouldn’t say I’m shocked, but I am surprised,” Sheffield told The Oakland Press of Pontiac. “To do this when somebody is one home run away … I don’t know how to react to it.
“Jim (Leyland) said, ‘We’re going to go with versatility.’ When he said that word I thought to myself, ‘I’m probably the most athletic guy on this team.’ But they’re entitled to their opinion.”
Marcus Thames will take Sheffield’s place in the lineup as designated hitter.
BRAVES
KISSIMMEE, Fla. ó Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves agreed to a $42 million, three-year contract extension through 2012, a deal with an option that could become worth up to $61 million over four seasons.
The agreement virtually guarantees that the 36-year-old Jones will play his entire career in an Atlanta uniform.
His .310 career batting average ranks second among switch-hitters, trailing only Frankie Frisch’s .316. He has 408 home runs, trailing only Mickey Mantle (536) and Eddie Murray (504) in homers by a switch-hitter.
Jones is the only switch-hitter with at least 300 homers and a .300 career batting average.
ATHLETICS
PHOENIX ó Joey Devine (N.C. State) will start the season on the disabled list because of a recurring elbow problem, leaving Oakland without one of its two closers.
While Devine is out, the A’s will use Brad Ziegler as their lone closer. Devine will see orthopedist Dr. James Andrews next week. Devine has had the same problem in his right elbow throughout the past few years, including a two-month stint on the DL last season.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said. “I’ve have some ups, but I’ve had more downs. I try to tell myself it will be fine, but there is only so much you can do. I’ve got to get it diagnosed and get it fixed.”
Devine is 7-2 with a 2.48 ERA in 67 major league games. The 25-year-old right-hander was 6-1 with an 0.59 ERA in 42 innings last season, the lowest ERA in major league history for a pitcher with at least 25 innings.
YANKEES
TAMPA, Fla. ó Jonathan Albaladejo won the competition for the final spot in the New York Yankees’ bullpen. Albaladejo beat out three long-relief candidates: Alfredo Aceves, Dan Giese and Brett Tomko.
* Alex Rodriguez is making progress in rehab after hip surgery and could soon move his workouts from Colorado to the New York Yankees’ spring training complex.
* Joba Chamberlain’s arraignment on a drunken-driving charge has been rescheduled a fourth time.
* Bob Sheppard, the longtime voice of the Yankees, will miss the start of the season while he continues to recover from a bronchial infection.
PHILLIES
CLEARWATER, Fla. ó Geoff Jenkins, who had a key hit in the resumption of Game 5 of last year’s World Series, was released.
Philadelphia also named Chan Ho Park its fifth starter. He beat out lefty J.A. Happ.
ROYALS
PHOENIX ó Kansas City has optioned pitcher Luke Hochevar, the first player picked in the 2006 draft, to Triple-A, increasing the chances Sidney Ponson will fill a slot in the rotation.
MARLINS
JUPITER, Fla. ó Florida newcomer Emilio Bonifacio won a starting job at third base, and Jorge Cantu will move to first.
GIANTS
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. ó Emmanuel Burriss will open the season as the starting second baseman.
TRADE
SARASOTA, Fla. ó Cincinnati traded Jeff Keppinger to Houston for a player to be named, getting rid of a reserve shortstop who struggled in spring training.SURVEY
The high price of going to a game is now the No. 1 problem in Major League Baseball, a new Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll of fans shows. In other poll results released Tuesday:
* Nearly 60 percent of fans said no player who used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs should get into the Hall of Fame.
* 85 percent said all 104 names on the list of players testing positive for drugs in 2003 should be made public.
* 60 percent said they were not interested in the World Baseball Classic.
But the cost of tickets, concessions, parking and everything else added up to fans’ main concern. The toll of attending a game was tops at 45 percent, followed by player salaries (29 percent), steroids/drugs (19 percent) and the length of games (6 percent).
ESPN
BRISTOL, Conn. ó Hall of Famer Dave Winfield has joined ESPN as a Baseball Tonight analyst.
MINOR LEAGUES
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. ó A 4,800-calorie burger offered by the West Michigan Whitecaps has been branded a “dietary disaster.”
The four-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips ó all on an 8-inch bun.
Whitecaps spokesman Mickey Graham says the burger is a gimmick promoted as a very unhealthy item.
INDIANS
GOODYEAR, Ariz. ó Pitcher Juan Lara will be back in a minor league uniform this week after he was nearly killed in a car crash.
His car had stopped at a traffic light when it was hit by a speeding motorcycle in November 2007. Lara was left with severe brain trauma, a fractured spine, two broken ribs, a broken arm and punctured lung. Doctors kept him in a coma for weeks before fitting him with a halo vest to support his neck. He later had surgery on his spine and arm.
Lara will participate in extended spring training before being assigned to a minor league affiliate.