YANKEES Boss hot about Sheffield contract

George Steinbrenner is considering Vladimir Guerrero for right field.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK -- Gary Sheffield says that he'll be playing for the New York Yankees next season, describing the contract snag that has enraged George Steinbrenner as "a bump in the road." But the Yankees apparently consider it more than that.
As one team official said Wednesday: "Put it this way, we're into [Vladimir] Guerrero big time."
With Sheffield, according to Yankee sources, asking to have his contract bumped up from $39 million to $42 million, the Yankees seem to have turned their attention to Guerrero as a possible solution to their hole in right field. They have already called Fern Cuza, Guerrero's agent, and may spurn Sheffield for the former Expo.
Uncertainty
"Who knows where it will go, but we're in this thing," the Yankee official said.
Sheffield, interviewed by ESPN Wednesday night, said he thought a deal would still get done.
"I'm looking forward to playing with the Yankees," Sheffield said. "We just hit a bump in the road right now, but we'll get it done."
Friends of Sheffield said that the slugger is getting nervous and that he has backed down on his demands for more money. Probably a good move, considering Steinbrenner has been telling confidants, "He'll either sign with the Yankees under the original terms or not at all."
Sheffield's attorney, Rufus Williams, said Wednesday Sheffield did not demand more money. But Williams wouldn't say what had made Steinbrenner angry or what was holding up the deal.
"That's not at all what happened, but I don't want to comment further," Williams said. "Negotiations are what they are. I think everybody understands where everybody is. We have maintained professionalism throughout this."
Wants interest
Sheffield is negotiating the contract himself, and other baseball officials say he wants interest on the deferred money that is part of the package. The Yankees, sources said, want to defer $15 million without interest to lower the average annual value of the contract to $12 million. Ideally, the Yankees would like it to be $11 million.
Sheffield also wants an option year and a no-trade clause, and the Yankees have balked. It's possible that the two sides would talk again today.
As for Guerrero, the Yankees initially shied away from him.
"The primary reason we haven't gotten into this earlier, despite the obvious right-field void, is the impression that he didn't want to play in New York," one Yankees official said.