Mr. Steinbrenner, that is. Ticked off that the hated Red Sox acquired Curt Schilling, a player who would have fit right in to Joe Torre's Bronx, George is apparently very close to signing outfielder Gary Sheffield (who one might think would not be a Torre kind of guy), while also closing in on reliever Tom Gordon and, improbably, outfielder Kenny Lofton. Sheffield would undoubtedly make the Yankees even more fearsome offensively, but although he's matured since his bad old days, Sheff is still very much a clubhouse iconoclast. Gordon supposely was looking for a one-year deal as a closer in order to bag 40 saves and generate big bucks after 2004, so it would seem strange for him to come to New York as a setup man for two years. And Lofton? While it may be sensible to realize that Bernie Williams' days as a legit centrefielder are over, I'm not sure KL is the answer. A couple of years ago, the Yankees got the pitcher the Red Sox wanted in Mike Mussina; frustrated and overcompensating, the Sox signed Manny Ramirez to a deal they already regret. Will George make the same mistakes this year? The answer to that may depend on whether Bartolo Colon and/or Javier Vazquez end up in pinstripes when the dust settles.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20031201094953999