Gary Sheffield wants to keep playing so that he can reach 3,000 hits for his career.  Nothing like individual goals to get yourself motivated, but whatever.  Maybe Sheffield can help a team a little bit with depth, but Sheff may have a different idea of how valuable he is:

Sheffield would have to average 155.5 hits over two years to get to 3,000. He hasn’t had that many hits in a season since 2005 when he had 170 for the Yankees.

“I always played and never worried about numbers, but at some point career numbers jump out there. To get 3,000 hits is a big thing for me,” he said.

Sheffield said an American League team contacted him yesterday. There were whispers Texas might be interested once free agents Matt Holliday and Jason Bay set the market.

“They are talking about Vladimir Guerrero, but he is one dimensional,” Sheffield said of the Rangers and the Angels free agent. “I can play the outfield and I can move better. I can DH and still play the outfield and that helps because I can give guys breaks [in the outfield].”

“At the end of the day when they set the market, how much more are they worth than me?” Sheffield asked. “If you say they are worth three times more than me, then you don’t think I can play. They are not three times better than me.”

Look, Gary Sheffield had a great career and is a likely Hall of Famer.  Having said that (according to Larry David, this phrase allows me to nullify what I’ve just said), he’s not a productive player anymore.  He can’t do anything well and he’s constantly injured.

Are Jason Bay and Matt Holliday three times better than Sheffield?  Yes, which is why they’ll make at least three times more money than Sheffield will make.  At least.  I’m just waiting for Sheffield to be “disrespected” by a franchise that offers him a one-year, $1 million contract.  Because obviously, if you don’t want to sign Sheffield for big money, you’re racist.

[NY Post]