Tigers Aquire Gary Sheffield

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The Detroit Tigers have acquired Gary Sheffield from the New York Yankees for three righthanded pitching prospects, the Tigers announced Friday.

In return for Sheffield, the Tigers sent Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett to New York. Detroit agreed to a two-year contract extension with Sheffield through the 2009 season.

The moves comes days after Sheffield blasted Yankees management and said Bobby Abreu, the player who took his place in New York's lineup, isn't a good a player as he is. The Yankees exercised their $13 million option on Sheffield last weekend, preventing him from becoming a free agent, and asked him for a list of teams to which he'd like a trade.

"Everybody knows when I go to another team, I'm coming back looking for you. That's just the way it is," he said earlier this week. "When you let me go, I've got a chip on my shoulder, and I'm coming with it. That's how I play the game."

He'll have the chance to prove it again by moving across the AL to the Tigers, who stunned the Yankees in the playoffs on the way to the World Series.

Sheffield, a 19-year veteran and nine-time All-Star who has played for Milwaukee, San Diego, Florida, the L.A. Dodgers, Braves and Yankees, has a .297 career batting average, 455 home runs and 1,501 RBI in 2,229 games. He's sixth among active players in RBI and seventh in home runs.

"We have been able to add one of the biggest bats in baseball," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who managed Sheffield in Florida. "I have a great relationship with Gary Sheffield and I have the utmost respect for him. I'm happy to add a bat of this magnitude and that he'll be a Tiger."

Sanchez, who went a combined 10-6 with a 2.63 ERA over 20 starts in Double-A and Triple-A, will join the Yankees' 40-man roster. Whelan, who had 27 saves, will report to Double-A Trenton while Claggett will report to Class-A Tampa.