TIGERS GET: OF Gary Sheffield; signed Sheffield to a two-year extension through the 2009 season
YANKEES GET: SP Humberto Sanchez, RP Kevin Whelan, RP Anthony Claggett
Assuming the Yankees aren't throwing in any money to cover what they owed Sheffield for 2007, this is a great deal for the Yankees. Sheffield wasn't happy with the Yankees, and he was hardly a bargain next year at $13 million. He was coming off a year in which he was injured most of the season and not playing all that well when he was healthy, and he turns 38 this week. The extension the Tigers signed him to covers him until he's 41, which is nuts.
Meanwhile, the Yankees really got a lot in return. Injury worries or no, Sanchez is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, and it's not hard to see him going all Justin Verlander on the American League next year. (I'm not saying that will happen, just pointing out that Sanchez has that kind of upside.)
(By the way, you may remember that the Pirates were wasting their time scouting Sanchez back when the Tigers were interested in Sean Casey.)
Whelan and Claggett are both just relief prospects, but they're very good ones - young guys with ridiculous stuff who've been rocketing through the Tigers system on the strength of their outstanding strikeout rates. Whelan, in particular, only finished last year at High-A, but he has struck out at least 11.5 batters per nine innings at every stop so far. Either or both of these guys could be outstanding relievers in the majors.