Do you smell what the Sheff is cookin’?

Kicked out of Detroit, where will Sheffield land?

He’s one of the most feared hitters of the current era, even at age 40.

He’s one home run shy of the prolific 500 mark.

He’s finally healthy again.

He has $14 million left on his contract.

And now he’s unemployed.

Answer me this: How many people did Gary Sheffield have to alienate to actually have the Tigers release him? A perennial power hitter complimenting Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera on the verge of history and taking up a significant amount of payroll space, and they cut him?

Sure he’s a horriffic clubhouse presence, and we saw how unloading the “bad guys” in Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes worked out for Tampa Bay last year, but Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes didn’t carry $14 million in baggage. They didn’t even carry $1 million in baggage.

Sure he’s got the steroid era working against him, but with a new name coming out seemingly each passing day, everyone’s a suspect now. If teams released every tainted (or supposedly tainted) player, Curt Schilling would be the last man standing and he just announced his retirement.

You can’t make the argument that the Tigers are in the process of a salary dump because the team that picks him up is only obligated to pay him the minimum, Detroit assuming the remainder. So unless Sheffield said something dirty about general manager Dave Dombrowski’s mother or Marcus Thames paid off the front office to send Sheffield packing, there is absolutely no reason to make this move.

But now that the Sheff is a free agent, where can he wear out his welcome next? He has expressed interest in joining either of the Florida teams, but Tampa already signed their right-handed bat in Pat Burrell and are generally unwilling to take on players with Sheffields…er…persona.

The Marlins could be a decent fit. If Jeremy Hermida or Cody Ross go down or Cameron Maybin falters, Sheffield could be a valuable addition to the outfield if the team feels his body could hold up. He could also provide depth at the corner infield spots (now composed of Jorge Cantu at first and Emilio Bonafacio at third). The only problem is that with a young team, Sheffield may not be considered the ideal mentor for arguably the National League’s top young talent. The Marlins are reportedly more interested in Geoff Jenkins than they are in Sheffield.

Jenkins was of course relesed by the Phillies, who may now have a need for a fourth outfielder (assuming they are only using Matt Stairs in the “situational-left-handed-hit-the-ball-900-feet-in-the-NLCS” role). Sheffield could fit there as a fourth outfielder or at the best, a platoon partner with Jayson Werth, but with the production Werth put out last season, it’s likely that Philly won’t want to platoon him again. They’ve shown minimal interest, but it appears to be a longshot.

Other candidates: Cincinnatti generally has an obsession with old, over-priced, slugging outfielders and Atlanta may need one as well (but we’ve been there and done that already).