Sheffield Claims Dodgers, Evans Have Misled Him

Beginning another year on bad terms with the Dodgers, Gary Sheffield said Tuesday he has been misled by General Manager Dan Evans and that he wants to be traded before spring training or assured that he will be with the club until his contract expires after the 2004 season.

The all-star left fielder said he is frustrated because Evans recently told him that he did not try to trade him to the Oakland Athletics, dismissing reports about a proposed deal that would have brought outfielder Jermaine Dye and closer Billy Koch to Los Angeles. Evans acknowledged he spoke with Sheffield recently but declined comment on Sheffield’s interpretation of the conversation.

Sheffield, who first blasted team officials while trying to force a trade last February, said he does not trust the Dodgers.

“When somebody tells you something and then they hang up the phone and you know it’s not the truth, it’s one of those things where you wonder to yourself what you have to do to get the truth,� said Sheffield, vacationing at his off-season home in Tampa, Fla. “You try to be a man about it and make phone calls to the organization, just to get a direct answer, and you basically don’t get a straightforward answer.

“It becomes frustrating to the point where you ask yourself, ‘Do I really want to be with this organization?’ I don’t want to be with an organization that constantly tells me one thing and then does another. I’m not going to sugarcoat that one bit. I deserve enough respect not to be told things like that.�

Evans said he would not engage in public debates with players.

“I spoke with [Sheffield] for the first time this off-season the other night, and I won’t discuss the content of that conversation,� Evans said. “My experience with Gary has been very positive in the short time that I’ve been with the ballclub.

“I just won’t discuss my plans regarding Gary Sheffield or any other player in the media. And one thing I will never do [is] discuss any contractual matters publicly. I just don’t believe that’s the way I ever want to do business. And I’m not going to start now.�

Sheffield will have salaries of $9.5 million in 2002 and $11 million in 2003. The club holds an $11-million option in 2004.

Chairman Bob Daly’s refusal to give Sheffield a “lifetime contract� last spring triggered the ongoing feud between Sheffield and the Dodgers. However, Sheffield said he is only seeking peace of mind now.

“I’m not demanding anything, but it’s going to have to be either-or,� he said. “It’s not going to keep being, ‘Gary, we’re not trying to trade you,’ but then behind closed doors they are trying to trade me. Then when I come to spring training they say to me, ‘OK, Gary, now go out and hit 40 home runs for us and take us to a championship.’ When I look at all of that, I have to say to myself that enough is enough.

“The bottom line is that [the Dodgers] can’t tell me anything now. You’ve got to show actions. It’s not about them telling me I’ve got a title on this team, that I’m the franchise player. Until they say, ‘OK, Gary, this is what the case is, this is what we’re going to do to prove what we’re saying about you,’ I don’t want to hear anything. Or, they can take the other course and trade me. Either way I’m all for it, but it’s all about actions now.�

Although Evans also previously told reporters he is not trying to trade Sheffield, executives from other teams paint a different picture.

They said Evans initiated talks with Oakland and the Toronto Blue Jays about a proposed three-team trade because Koch, formerly of the Blue Jays, was the top player on the Dodgers’ off-season wish list. Evans then focused on trading Sheffield to the Athletics after Oakland General Manager Billy Beane acquired Koch.

Beane had planned to accept the Dodgers’ offer of Sheffield and pitchers Luke Prokopec and Mike Trombley for Dye and Koch, sources said, but declined when Evans also insisted on getting one of the Athletics’ pitching prospects in the deal.

On the last day of the baseball winter meetings in Boston three weeks ago, Evans traded Prokopec and minor league pitcher Chad Ricketts to the Blue Jays for reliever Paul Quantrill and minor league middle infielder Cesar Izturis. Evans then tried to modify the Dodgers’ offer to Oakland to include prospects instead of Prokopec.

Although acquiring Sheffield was the key to the deal for Oakland, Prokopec also was a priority because Beane wanted to include him in other proposed trades, baseball executives said. With Prokopec unavailable, Beane’s interest waned.

Baseball sources said Evans also had unsuccessful discussions with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and New York Mets and Angels regarding Sheffield.

Now, Sheffield and the Dodgers are in another uncomfortable situation.

“I don’t want to come into spring training having to answer the same questions every year,� Sheffield said. “When I go to spring training my focus is on winning a championship. When you have to answer questions that you’re really not comfortable in answering, that you don’t even want to think about, it’s a distraction not only to me but also to the team. It’s putting yourself in a bad situation and also putting your teammates in a bad situation.

“Sometimes people don’t know what to believe when [the Dodgers] are saying something and I’m saying something. That’s why it’s just best that everyone resolves the issues now because we’re going to be back in the same place that we were last year. We [Sheffield and agent Scott Boras] just thought it would play itself out and work out for both sides, but it seems like now they’re dragging it along again and trying squeeze out another year. There’s going to have to be some type of halt to this by spring training.�

Boras became Sheffield’s agent in March and mediated the conflict between his client and the Dodgers. Sheffield maintained an even demeanor throughout the season, but his new comments may indicate new damage to his relationship with the team.

“A year ago, and correctly so I may add, Bob Daly said to me that he wasn’t trying to trade Gary,� Boras said. “Gary got information from outside sources that said he was, and we all grew to learn that was incorrect. Now, this year, the information is ... it’s fairly obvious that the Dodgers were trying to trade Gary.�

And how will Sheffield react if the Dodgers keep him without an assurance about his future in Los Angeles?

“I can’t predict anything,� Sheffield said.

“I don’t want anybody playing with my feelings and my emotions ... I have to take it all in and just get ready for spring training wherever that may be.�