TAMPA — A phone call from Gary Sheffield to the Players Association yesterday officially ushered him into retirement.
Now, the argument whether the feared slugger deserves to be a Hall of Famer can begin.
Sheffield, whose last season was 2009 with the Mets, will be on the ballot following the 2014 season.
As usual, Sheffield has a strong opinion on him entering Cooperstown.
“I am sure it will be mentioned and debated but from my standpoint I know who is in the Hall of Fame,” Sheffield told The Post. “A lot of them don’t belong in the Hall of Fame. If someone wants to debate me, check the stats.”
Sheffield completed a 22-year career with a .292 average, 509 homers (24th all-time) and 1,676 RBIs (25th all-time).
Of the 25 men with 500 or more homers, 15 are in the Hall of Fame, four are active, four not yet eligible (including Sheffield) and two are on the ballot but haven’t been elected.
Based on the way being linked to steroid use has hurt Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro with voters recently, Sheffield’s inclusion in the Mitchell Report will come into play.
“The thing about the Mitchell Report is that I cringe about it because the guy who wrote the report didn’t talk to me,” Sheffield said. “If he talked to me I would respect that no matter what. But I cringe on that because he didn’t.”
Sheffield, whose company Sheffield Management, has entered player representation, took the advice of his family and waited a full year before officially retiring.
“I wanted to retire after I played for the Mets,” Sheffield said of the 2009 season. “My family said wait one year, that there was no need to rush it. I gave it a year and now it’s time to say goodbye.”
Sheffield played for the Brewers, Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Tigers and Mets.
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With the flu-like sickness lessening in Mariano Rivera’s Westchester County home, the closer informed the club he will be in camp today and beginning working out.
“We are expecting him [today],” manager Joe Girardi said. “He will play catch and do [fielding drills].”
Historically, Rivera is limited to eight innings a spring and doesn’t appear in games until past the halfway point of the exhibition schedule.
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Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, lefty reliever Neal Cotts was released yesterday with a hip problem that surfaced during a physical.
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For the second straight day, an elite Yankees starter threw in the bullpen hours before the other pitchers. Tuesday, it was A.J. Burnett getting individual attention of pitching coach Larry Rothschild in an 8:30 a.m. session. Yesterday, Phil Hughes threw 40 pitches with Rothschild watching at the same hour.
“He likes the early work for the individual attention,” Hughes said. “I like the early stuff, too.”
Hughes, who was working off a mound before camp opened Tuesday, threw fastballs and off-speed pitches to catcher Kyle Higashioka.
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Stud catching prospect Gary Sanchez has been cleared to resume working out at the minor league complex after undergoing heart tests that shelved him for a week.
“He is fine,” general manager Brian Cashman said of Sanchez, considered by many to be the jewel of the Yankees’ minor league system despite. “Trust me, there are no worries now with Gary Sanchez. There is nothing more to talk about. He is in minor league camp and is fine.”
Sanchez, 18, has just 31 games of professional experience, in which he batted .353 with six homers and 36 at-bats in the Gulf Coast (Rookie) League.