Why did the Yankees pursue Gary Sheffield instead of Vladimir Guerrero when they were both free agents?
Guerrero is younger, a better hitter, better defender, and faster than Sheffield. Plus, he would not have come with all of the attitude and hoopla that Sheffield generates. In the end, they signed Sheffield for nearly as much money per season (three years, $39 million) than Guerrero signed for (five years, $70 million). — Jeff Neiger, Chicago Good observation. In fact, there was a split among Yankees people on which guy to pursue. A lot of the baseball people wanted Guerrero, largely because he was younger. George Steinbrenner, though, preferred Sheffield. Remember, too, some people in baseball were concerned about Vlad’s back at the time. The team you also should call out for not signing Vlad was the Dodgers, who let him slip through their hands to the Angels. I get the feeling that the stats geeks would prefer not to play the games at all, just crank it through the computer, prove their point that Team A is best, and crown them champs, and then let the blogosphere and Internet argue
Related Questions
- Curious which free agents are going, and which are staying? Hot Stove has the info on every club, airing weeknights at 6 ET with the latest analysis and player news.
- Are Call-a-Clerk personnel more experienced and professional than general free lance agents?
- Are data indentured servants or free agents?
