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Does he have enough arm anymore to make the throws?
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"Based on the way I used to throw before surgery ... I'm throwing better than most left fielders right now," he said. "I don't throw like I used to."
The important thing, he said, is that whether he's in left field or at DH, "I can't be pulling off the ball like I'm doing, no matter where I'm hitting." At least he was patient Monday. After popping out to left field in the second, he walked three times.
That's little consolation to Jones, who was slogging along with a .244 on-base percentage and .165 batting average, which made him utterly expendable when Sheffield finally had enough of DH'ing.
"It's very tough because I feel like I've got something to do with it," Sheffield said. "I'm sure Jacque's played long enough to understand the way this game works."
There are indications that, despite Leyland's strong presence, it is Dombrowski -- and the GM alone -- who is calling the shots. That's a healthy delineation of power, of course: the manager writing the lineup, and the GM making roster decisions.
Leyland said he called Jones and Marcus Thames into his office Monday afternoon to tell them to expect more time at DH than in the field given the manager's new plans for Sheffield. Then Dombrowski came down to meet with Leyland.
And then Jones was called in a second time and told, see ya.
"Right now, to me, we're not playing as well as we're capable of playing. The pieces haven't jelled," Dombrowski said. "Sometimes when you make moves, you're surprised."
He recalled his days as GM of the '97 Marlins, a club loaded with all-stars such as Sheffield, Moises Alou, Bobby Bonilla, Kevin Brown, Alex Fernandez and catcher Charles Johnson, among others. But it wasn't until the Marlins installed then-little-known Craig Counsell at second base that they took off and, eventually, won the World Series.
Nobody here is expecting Matt Joyce -- the man recalled from Triple-A Toledo, playing center field and batting seventh against Boston on Monday -- to have that kind of presence.
But everyone here is expecting Dombrowski and Leyland to find the right combination before everybody turns their attention to new Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez and his team later this summer. Fortunately for Detroit, the other four clubs in the AL Central are chasing their tails, too.
"I don't think you expect some miracle to happen in one game, two games," Leyland said.
The skipper said he intended to check with the trainers to make sure everything went OK with Sheffield -- he only had one putout, a nice catch of Mike Lowell's drive to the left-field fence, though he chased several base hits. Assuming it did, Leyland said he plans to play Sheffield in left field again Tuesday night, put Ordonez back in right field, use Inge at third and have Guillen be the DH.
"I just feel like a baseball player," Sheffield said. "I've been kept in the cage for a while."
Now it's the Tigers who continue pacing.
