Meeting With Daly Does Nothing to Calm Sheffield

Gary Sheffield rebuffed the reconciliation attempt of Chairman Bob Daly on Friday, telling the club’s top executive to “just let Gary play somewhere else.”

Sheffield reaffirmed his desire to be traded in a one-hour meeting with Daly and General Manager Kevin Malone at Dodgertown after Daly again declined his contract-extension request, and then Malone resumed his efforts to accommodate the disgruntled player whose presence has disrupted the team.

Malone has been working on a deal with the New York Mets--one of three clubs on Sheffield’s wish list--that would bring center fielder Jay Payton and at least one of the Mets’ top prospects to the Dodgers as compensation for the six-time all-star left fielder.

The Dodgers also got bad news in their first exhibition game as right fielder Shawn Green and infielder Dave Hansen suffered injuries in a 5-4 loss to the Houston Astros at Dodgertown.

Green sprained his right thumb sliding into second base, and Hansen broke a bone on the middle finger of his left hand diving into the first-base bag.

Green is listed as day-to-day, but Hansen is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks, stirring further front-office concern because of the club’s situation at third base.

The Dodgers planned for Hansen, one of the top pinch-hitters in the major leagues, to be the opening-day third baseman because Adrian Beltre, recovering from an appendectomy and infection that caused him to lose 24 pounds, is expected to start the season on the disabled list.

“If something like this was going to happen, it was better to have it happen on the second of March than in the middle of May,” Manager Jim Tracy said of Hansen’s injury. “You hate to see something like that happen, but he’s not missing any regular-season games at this point.

“Obviously, there’s still a lot of [exhibition] baseball games to play. There’s a lot of things that have a chance of shaking out as teams get closer to the season.”

Malone might explore trades for another backup infielder, but the Sheffield situation tops the Dodger to-do list.

Sheffield, who wants to be traded as soon as possible to either the Mets, Atlanta Braves or New York Yankees, already has one foot out the door.

“I left off worse than I came,” Sheffield said of his meeting with Daly. “Let’s just do the best thing. Let’s just let Gary play somewhere else. . . . It’s done. . . .

“We keep going around everything else, but the bottom line is all I asked for is to be a lifetime Dodger, and since that ain’t going to happen, I really don’t need to talk about the next step. I’ll deal with that step when it comes.”

It could come soon.

Several key Met veterans have encouraged General Manager Steve Phillips to acquire Sheffield, baseball sources said, telling Phillips that the outspoken player would not adversely affect the New York clubhouse.

That allayed front-office skepticism about Sheffield in the wake of his daily Dodger assault.

Now, Phillips must persuade Malone to finalize a deal that could shift the balance of power in the National League and trigger another disappointing Dodger season.

Two baseball executives monitoring Met-Dodger talks said the teams are working on the parameters of a deal that would include Payton, who performed well as a rookie last season, and either minor leaguers Alex Escobar, 22, or Grant Roberts, 23.

Escobar, a Venezuelan outfielder, has had back problems and sat out most of the 1999 season because of a fractured vertebra.

In double-A last season, Escobar batted .288 with 16 home runs, 25 doubles, seven triples and 67 runs batted in.

Roberts, a pitcher whose fastball has been clocked at 94 mph, was 7-8 with a 3.38 earned-run average in triple-A. The right-hander had four complete games in his last five starts.

Sheffield wants to join the Mets, and he plans to increase the heat today, saying he will reveal his side of the story in an ESPN interview with Peter Gammons.

“I don’t have any reason to make this a bigger thing than it is, all I’m going to do is tell the truth, the way I see it,” Sheffield said. “I’m not asking everybody to agree with the way I see things, I don’t expect that, and they can’t expect me to see their side 100%.

“We all interpret things different, and people have to respect that.”

Sheffield believes the Dodgers have treated him unfairly, having refused to give him an extension to his six-year, $61-million contract.

He intimated race might be a factor in the Dodgers’ reluctance to make him a lifetime Dodger, pointing to Nomar Garciaparra’s situation as an example.

With club options, Sheffield and Garciaparra are each under contract through the 2004 season.

The Boston Red Sox have discussed an extension with Garciaparra, who is Mexican American. Sheffield is African American.

“Like I said before, I don’t have to use other people’s names,” said Sheffield, owed $30 million the next three seasons. “People misconstrue and say, ‘Oh, you have to bring up this guy’s name and that guy’s name.’ I don’t have to use Garciaparra to get my extension, but the facts are out there. Nobody is ridiculing [the Red Sox].

“Nobody’s saying that that’s a dumb move to do that. The Boston Red Sox are not concerned about a labor agreement. So when you see that and hear that, I have to represent everybody in the stand that I’m taking because it’s out there, you see it. Here’s the type of guys they’re giving it to, and here’s the type of guys they’re not giving it to. Take that for what it’s worth.”

Derrick Hall, senior vice president, spoke on behalf of Daly.

“Nothing has changed from our end,” said Hall, one of the senior staff members Daly consulted after meeting with Sheffield. “Again, the idea of a lifetime contract was requested, and again the Dodgers denied that request.

“We’ve been consistent from the beginning on an answer regarding a contract extension. Gary has three years plus an option remaining. That’s a fact.”

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The New Blue?

With injuries to their top third-base candidates and the potential trade of Gary Sheffield to the Mets for Jay Payton and prospects, here’s what the Dodger opening-day lineup could be (with 2000 batting averages):

Outfield Shawn Green (.269)

Outfield Jay Payton (.291)

Outfield Marquis Grissom (.244) or Tom Goodwin (.263)

Third Base Chris Donnels (.294)

Shortstop Alex Cora (.238)

Second Base Mark Grudzielanek (.279)

First Base Eric Karros (.250)

Catcher Chad Kreuter (.264)