Gary Sheffield Released by the Tigers

Gary Sheffield, the 40-year-old slugger who could one day find himself in the baseball Hall of Fame, was released by the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. The Tigers stated that their motive was to add versatility and flexibility to their team.

Gary Sheffield Released - Detroit Tigers (Image: Newscom)

Sheffield, who has 499 career homers, indicated that he will quickly sign with another team. In fact, he said that his career is far from over. One time that has supposedly shown early interest in Sheffield is the Philadelphia Phillies.

Last season, Sheffield was slowed by a number of injuries and had arguably his worst season of the last decade. He finished the year with a batting average of .225 with 19 homers and 57 RBI.

In his career, Sheffield has played with seven teams: the Milwaukee Brewers, the San Diego Padres, the Florida Marlins, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, the New York Yankees and the Tigers. The best season of his career was in 1996 when he played for the Marlins and hit .314 with 42 home runs, 120 RBI, 16 stolen bases and had an on-base percentage of .465.

Expect Sheffield and his always lively personality to end up somewhere within the next two weeks.