The Tigers Gary Sheffield has been in the papers a bit lately thanks to some comments he made to the Boston Globe in recent days. In the article Sheffield says he'd be open to a trade if the Tigers felt like moving him was the right thing to do, and that he'd be happy to go somewhere else in hopes that he'd get to play in the field everyday and possibly win another World Series.

You see, Gary isn't that big a fan of his role as designated hitter (which is something he's hinted at before).

"I can be in the outfield and play every day. I don't want to DH. I don't feel like a baseball player when I DH. I don't know how to be the leader that I am from the bench. I can't be a vocal leader. I can't talk to guys from the bench because I don't feel right about it.

"I'm in a role now where I don't know what to do, really. The guys are out there busting their butt for nine innings, they come in and they hit and they grind. I just sit down and hit. That's all I do, so I can't be in a leadership role from that position."

Obviously Gary's comments eventually got to his manager, and after reading them and being asked about them, The Black Lung couldn't do much more than scratch his head.

The confusion is because Leyland says that before the Tigers traded for Sheff after the 2006 season, they told him that he'd be primarily serving as a designated hitter, and if that wasn't cool with him he should block the deal.

"I told him that all I had here for him was a DH. If he did not want to accept that, do not accept the trade," Leyland recalled. "I'm still confused by the article because it talks about 'platoon doesn't set well.' Gary Sheffield never platooned here.

"Platoon is when you have a left-hand hitter and a right-hand hitter. One plays against right-hand pitching and one plays against left-hand pitching. That is a platoon."

Leyland then went on to say that anybody with a brain realizes that Gary isn't in a platoon situation. So guess who must not have a brain.

"I come in some days and I don't play and some days I play. That's platooning to me," Sheffield said. "You might think it's different. It's not a big deal, but that's the way I feel."

No, Gary, that's getting a day off once in a while. You know how some days Magglio doesn't play in right field and gets a day off instead? Is Magglio in a platoon, Gary? No, he's your starting right fielder. Just like you're the starting DH, but you're also getting up there in years, and the Tigers want you to get some rest. Especially when considering that your team is probably not going to be making any playoff run, and they still have to pay you $14 million next season.

Something tells me you won't be giving any of that back whether you feel like a real baseball player or not.