Gary Sheffield is recognized as one of the greatest players who have ever played the game, and he started his Hall of Fame career with no one other than the Marlins.
Well, technically he didn't start out with the Marlins but it was with the Marlins where he made a name for himself.
Gary was a first round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers and he spent four years with the Brewers where he underproduced and was constantly fighting with the front office, calling them racist. The Brewers, finally exhausted by Sheffield's attitude, traded him to the Padres.
With the Padres he had a breakout season where he was in the race for the triple crown. For the season, he fell two HR and nine RBI short of acquiring the triple crown, hitting .330 and winning the batting title. He became the only player other than Tony Gwynn to have won a batting title with the Padres.
Gary Sheffield's arrival to the Marlins came through a trade on June 24 of 1993. The trade involved: Trevor Hoffman, Jose Martinez, and Andres Berumen for Gary Sheffield and Rich Rodriguez.
When Sheffield first arrived to the Marlins he was skeptical about joining the young expansion team because he mainly wanted to play for a contending team like the Padres, but he ended up playing well producing an batting average of .293, 10 HR, and driving in 37 runs.
He later saw the young talent that the Marlins had and his skepticism quickly flew away. The Marlins, pleased with his production, offered him a four year contract making him one of the highest payed third basemen at the time.
Later on, during his 1994 season, he moved to the outfield where he surprised almost everyone with his rocket arm. During '94 he hit 27 HR and had a rather good year.
His career continued to improve with he Marlins, where in 1996 Sheffield had the best season in franchise history hitting 42 HR, batting .314, knocking in 120 runs, had an OBP of .465, and an OPS of 1.090. In this historic season he was 6th in the MVP voting, won a Silver Slugger, and for the second time went to the All-Star Game.
In 1997 he was an important part to the World Series team. Even though this year was a disappointment in comparison to his 1996 season, the Marlins never would've won the World Series without him.
Sheffield was traded in the middle of the 1998 season to the LA Dodgers. He was traded for the most common reason a Marlins player is ever traded—because they couldn't afford to give him a new contract, and since being traded he hasn't worn a Marlins Uniform, but that may change.
Sheffield told the Miami Herald "It would be nice to finish my career with the Marlins. This is where I made a name for myself." But due to his age this may be unlikely.
If it were up to me I would sign this 500 HR hitter without hesitation, he deserves to go back where he started. The Marlins were important to him, but he was more important to the Marlins and for that he deserves to wear a Marlins cap one more time, just for old time sakes.
The only problem I see with this is that the Marlins do have a surplus of outfielders and adding one more will probably overcrowd things.
Many other players have gone back to the teams where they once started their careers including the great Ken Griffey Jr. So why can't Sheffield?
Sheffield is one of my favorite players and one of the best to ever step on the field. He made a name for himself with the Marlins, and to thank him for everything he has given this Marlins franchise we should give him a one year, one million dollar contract, which shouldn't hurt Mr. Loria's wallet.
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