Gary Sheffield, OF, New York Yankees

May 12, 2006 @ 14:29:34

By Matthew Scott Carr
Edited by KFFL Staff

The New York Yankees outfield has been plagued by injuries early this season. Center fielder Johnny Damon is banged up, playing through pain. Left fielder Hideki Matsui will now likely miss about three months with a broken wrist, and the Yanks were already coping with right fielder Gary Sheffield sidelined with a bad wrist.

On April 29, while charging to first, Sheffield had a violent collision with Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Shea Hillenbrand that ended with Sheffield leaving the game with a bruised left hand and an injured wrist.

He would miss the next three games, but the outcome seemed positive as Sheffield returned against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as a pinch-hitter May 4. The following evening he returned to the starting lineup against the Texas Rangers, but went 0-for-5 at the plate with a strikeout.

The Yankees placed Sheffield on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 6. On the surface, the move hasn't really hurt the Yankees, who have gone 5-3 in the games Sheffield hasn't played, dating back to April 30. But the three losses were at the hands of the Boston Red Sox, with costly errors by substitute outfielders in two of those games.

For the season, Sheffield is batting .327 with four homers, 18 RBI, 15 runs and four stolen bases. It's the best start for the 37-year-old since 2003.

To fill in for Sheffield's absence, coupled with the injury to Matsui, Yankees manager Joe Torre plans to use a combination of outfielders Bernie Williams, Melky Cabrera and Bubba Crosby.

The current course of action is to have Cabrera play in right field, filling in for Sheffield, Crosby play left, filling in for Matsui, with Williams continuing his role as designated-hitter.

None of them will be able to keep the pace that Sheffield set offensively and defensively. Williams and Cabrera have both already committed major fielding errors in two games against the Red Sox. Both players were problematic defensively last season, with Cabrera being called up to replace the struggling Williams, then getting knocked back down to Triple-A after his own miscues.

In two games this season, Cabrera is 2-for-4, with one RBI.

Williams, who has served primarily as the Yankees' DH this season, is batting .264 with one homer, 12 RBI and 13 runs.

Crosby is hitting a meager .259 with one RBI, four runs and two stolen bases.

None of those numbers provide a comforting stopgap for the production lost to Sheffield's disabled list stint. For the Yankees, Sheffield's injury appears to be an enigma, with some reports saying the slugger may have to have a bone in his wrist removed, while initial reports suggested it was merely nagging discomfort. The only thing that's clear is that it's not as serious as Matsui's injury, though a timetable for Sheffield's return after he's eligible for re-activation is anyone's guess.

Fantasy wise, the good news is that the outfield has the team's greatest depth and there are a number of viable options commonly available in most leagues that you can plug in to your lineup in Sheffield's absence.

San Diego Padres center fielder Dave Roberts won't give you the power numbers that Sheffield would, but he is snagging a lot of bases, stealing multiple bags in two of his last three games. He's batting just below .300 with a nine-game hitting streak and has scored at least one run in eight of the Padres' last 10 games. The great thing about Roberts is that he could continue to develop to become part of your regular fantasy roster this season, particularly in base stealing and runs.

In his 19th season, San Francisco Giants center fielder Steve Finley continues to be productive, hitting safely in 16 of the Giants' last 19 games and currently sports a six-game hitting streak. With outfielder Moises Alou out and many teams pitching around Barry Bonds, Finley and third baseman Pedro Feliz have seen increased RBI opportunities. Finley has knocked in five in his last four games.

After dealing with injuries the last couple seasons, Boston Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon has posted solid numbers as of late. He's recorded a hit in nine of the last 10 games and has five runs and five RBI in that span.

Even Washington Nationals right fielder Jose Guillen is 8-of-24 with three home runs and eight RBI in his past six games. The other bright spot here is that the Nats will play nine games on the road to finish out May, and Guillen hit the majority of his homeruns last season (21 of 24) while away from RFK.

Table: Commonly Available Outfielders

Name	Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG.
Dave Roberts	SD	20	0	8	12	.286
Steve Finley	SF	15	1	15	3	.325
Trot Nixon	BOS	19	2	17	0	.308
Preston Wilson	HOU	16	5	16	2	.260
Juan Encarnacion	STL	21	5	14	1	.234
Reggie Sanders	KC	11	4	14	3	.256
Jose Guillen	WAS	17	5	16	0	.241

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Matthew Scott Carr

Matthew Scott Carr has been an avid football follower and fan for as long as he can remember. He became involved in fantasy sports in 1999, which transformed an already fanatical sports worship into a full-fledged psycho. Carr joined the KFFL team in 2004.

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