LIKE SANDS THROUGH THE HOURGLASS ... SHEFFIELD MEETS WITH DALY, FIRES AGENT, ISSUES APOLOGY.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Gary Sheffield's chances of remaining with the Dodgers took a positive turn Monday in another frenzied day of ``As the Sheff Turns.''

Sheffield fired his agent, hired Dodgers-friendly agent Scott Boras, separately met and apologized to general manager Kevin Malone and chairman Bob Daly for his actions and issued an apology to the fans.

Daly, who took the brunt of Sheffield's verbal bashings the last three weeks, met with the left fielder for 30 minutes during the Dodgers' 3-1 loss to the Mets. Daly accepted Sheffield's apology, but he didn't say Sheffield would remain with the club.

``Bob met with Gary during the game and Gary fully and completely apologized for the situation,'' Dodgers senior vice president Derrick Hall said Monday night. ``Bob accepted the apology but told him that he was going to take it one day at a time and actions were more important than words.

``However, the events are viewed throughout the organization and the industry as the steppingstone toward keeping Sheffield with the club.''

``First off, I just want to say that I want to honor my contract and I'm going to demand nothing,'' Sheffield read from a hand-written statement. ``I'm just going to go back to being a baseball player. I got in unfamiliar territory in negotiations and that's not my area. I'm a baseball player, No. 1, and that's what I need to get back to and concentrate on. That's why I hired Scott, to take care of all my legal business. That way I don't have to talk about anything but baseball.

``I owe the L.A. Dodger fans an apology. I owe them a great performance this year. That's something I want to concentrate on and put all my focus on and giving them the best year and help the Dodgers win a championship. I just want to get back to being a ballplayer and an L.A. Dodger.''

Sheffield didn't field questions after making the statement. He will address his teammates in a closed-door meeting today.

Boras said Sheffield was misinformed and his actions of the last month were a result. Boras added Sheffield will honor his contract, which has three years and $30 million remaining, and a contract extension would not be discussed at this time.

It was Sheffield's desire to sign a ``lifetime contract'' and the subsequent denial from Daly that led to his asking for a trade, his ripping the organization and his saying he might struggle if he was a Dodger.

However, much of the blame for Sheffield's actions has been heaped on Jim Neader, Sheffield's former agent. Neader, in a classic scapegoat role, caught Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone's wrath over the weekend. Malone questioned Neader's professionalism and said he was concerned about the advice the 32-year-old Sheffield was receiving.

``It's disappointing, but at the same time I wish Gary lots of luck,'' Neader said. ``I wish him well. I've known him since he was 13. I'm not going to retort on what (Malone) said.''

Malone, whose future is tied to how the Dodgers fare this season, said Sheffield's decision to change representation has an impact on what the club will ultimately do. Boras is influential in the Dodgers organization and took on Sheffield after speaking with several of his clients on the Dodgers. Boras represents Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park, Darren Dreifort, Chad Kreuter, Adrian Beltre, Angel Pena and Eric Gagne. Daly has a tremendous amount of respect for Boras.

``I think it definitely changed (with Boras in the picture), more so for those that weren't close to the situation,'' Malone said. ``Being involved with Gary from the beginning, I kind of always felt in his heart that he wanted to be here but that he was going about it in a fashion or a manner that wasn't conducive to what he was trying to accomplish.''

Malone continues to speak with other clubs about possible trades, but sources said the Dodgers are now only willing to move Sheffield for major-league-caliber players. The Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays remain in the mix, sources said.

Malone has made his feelings known he didn't want to trade Sheffield throughout the process and he doesn't want to trade him now.

But keeping Sheffield could be a public-relations nightmare. He's been booed heavily in every spring game and team officials are worried about the reaction if he's the starting left fielder on opening day April 2 at Dodger Stadium. There are also reservations as to whether Sheffield can become a solid citizen again. During this saga, he repeatedly changed his stance; the latest was when he said he didn't want to meet with Daly, then met with him the next day.

Boras said he thought Sheffield's frustration with the Dodgers, and the bashing that followed, is a result of misinformation Sheffield received throughout the process.

Sheffield said the subject of a contract extension was broached during a Nov. 30 marketing meeting that included club president and COO Bob Graziano, and Neader said so again Monday. The Dodgers said a contract extension wasn't spoken of until Feb. 9.

``The main element is that our philosophy, which is honor your contracts, is also Gary's philosophy,'' Boras said. ``This negotiation has a whole history to it and a great deal of miscommunication and misunderstanding that has gone on between many of the parties involved.... Our advice to him was, 'You need to get back to being a baseball player and you need to honor your contract.' ''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: (color) GARY SHEFFIELD

The slugger said, ``I just want to get back to being a ballplayer and an L.A. Dodger.''