Look Ahead: Sheffield determined to do what it takes for 3,000 hits

Miller: Weekend Buzz

NEW YORK -- Gary Sheffield's future became the topic of the day last week at Citi Field, after Sheffield reportedly asked for a contract extension, a request the Mets quickly turned down.

But it turns out Sheffield and Mets manager Jerry Manuel have been having regular talks about his future, and those talks have been much more pleasant.

Gary Sheffield has a ways to go before reaching the 3,000 mark. (AP)

The subject: 3,000 hits.

Sheffield said, and Manuel confirmed, that the manager has encouraged him to continue his career in pursuit of the milestone.

"Skip told me he wants me to leave with that legacy," Sheffield said.

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"There's no doubt in my mind that's something he can accomplish," Manuel said. "He still has that bat speed."

Sheffield will be 41 in November, and he's 313 hits shy of 3,000. Sheffield has 297 hits over the last three seasons combined, so 3,000 would seem to be a real longshot.

But Sheffield insisted this past week that he wants to try for it, even saying that he would choose where to play next year based on how many at-bats he would get.

"I could play every day," Sheffield insisted. "There's not even a question about that."

There is a question about whether any team would give him a chance to play regularly, and how much anyone would be willing to pay him to play at all.

Sheffield is making $14 million this year, and he has made at least $9.9 million for every season since 1998. He won't be offered nearly that much for next year, although it's very likely that one or more teams would want him for a salary that was considerably lower.

One executive who knows Sheffield said he wonders seriously whether Sheffield could come to grips with playing for $4 million, or even less than that.

"We'll see how serious he is [about 3,000]," the executive said.

Sheffield insists he's serious, and he answered a question about his desire to play next year by saying: "And after that, because that's the only way I can get to 3,000."

A couple of years ago, Sheffield said that he considered 500 home runs a bigger milestone than 3,000 hits, "because anybody can hit singles."

But Sheffield, who hit his 500th home run this year, now says he's more interested in 3,000 than he was in 500.

"I never considered myself a home run guy," he said. "I considered myself a complete hitter."

The other stories to watch this week:

The Mets don't have many options when it comes to Billy Wagner, so look for the lefty flamethrower to land in Boston. (AP)

The Wagner watch: The Red Sox don't have to have Billy Wagner, but if he's as healthy as he looked in his return from the disabled list, they sure could use him. They certainly have more use for him than do the Mets, who have until Tuesday afternoon to work out a deal with Boston, the team that claimed Wagner on waivers.

Keeping Wagner would be nearly a $3 million risk for the Mets, because they then couldn't trade him this year. They would have to hope that he pitched so well in the next six weeks that they could justify picking up an $8 million option for 2010, and then be able to trade him for more than what the Red Sox would give them now.

That seems a longshot, which is why it's hard to imagine that Wagner won't be with the Red Sox by Tuesday.

Tough road for the White Sox: Over the next 11 days, the White Sox will go to Boston (where they haven't won a series in five years), to New York (where they haven't won a series in four years), to Minnesota (where they're 2-13 the last two years) and finally to Wrigley Field, for a makeup game against the Cubs.

As tough as it is for visiting teams to win at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium -- the home teams there were 80-37 through Saturday -- next week's trip to the Metrodome really stands out for the White Sox.

"I'm going to bring some grenades and blow that thing up myself," manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters in Chicago. "I think when the White Sox come around, I don't know if some disease comes to the ballpark and gets us."

The White Sox originally hoped to have Jake Peavy ready to make his debut for them this week, but Peavy is scheduled for another minor league start Monday night. While there's some chance he could start for the White Sox next weekend in New York, it seems just as likely that he'd make another minor league start first.

Three games to watch: 1. Dodgers at Rockies, Wednesday. In early June, the Rockies were in last place and trailed the Dodgers by 15½ games, but they've overcome enough of that to have an outside chance at the division crown. To win it, they'll have to overcome Aaron Cook's shoulder injury. That won't be easy, not with Adam Eaton (5-13, 6.10 as a starter the past two years) and Josh Fogg (2-7, 8.23 as a starter the past two years) the top two choices to take Cook's spot on Wednesday against the Dodgers.

2. Rangers at Yankees, Wednesday. Derek Holland shut out the Angels, then beat the Red Sox. How will he do at Yankee Stadium, where only one opposing starting pitcher has won a game since the All-Star break? The one winner was Oakland's Gio Gonzalez. In 16 other games, opposing starters are 0-9 with a 5.44 ERA.

3. Braves at Phillies, Friday. Young Tommy Hanson gets his biggest test yet. Too bad J.A. Happ starts Thursday for the Phillies, because it would have been fun to see two leading Rookie of the Year candidates matching up in the same game.