"That didn't mean it was a calm day for Sheffield, as he was ejected in the seventh inning of the Mets' 4-2 win over the Phillies last night for flipping his bat after a called third strike. But even in that, there was harmony, as Jerry Manuel had been tossed two innings earlier for arguing a call at second base.

Sheffield uttered the word "never" five straight times when asked before last night's game against the Phillies if he had demanded a contract extension or requested his outright release after the Mets pulled him back from waivers once he was claimed earlier this month by an undisclosed team, believed to be the San Francisco Giants.

Still, Sheffield admitted that he asked out of Thursday's lineup to "clear my head," and added that he was "baffled" why the Mets blocked him from moving on to a contending team when GM Omar Minaya told him in a meeting earlier Thursday that he is not in the team's plans for 2010.

"I heard him out and he told me it was his decision to pull me back from other teams acquiring my services," said Sheffield, who started in left field last night. "The first thing that crossed my mind was they pulled me back, so that's good for me. I get to stay a Met this year and next year.

"So I asked him, if you pulled me back and you're keeping me from going to a contending team, what's my future here? And basically I got a 'maybe, maybe not.' So that's basically not much of a future."

Minaya concurred that the 40-year-old outfielder never officially demanded an extension, although that usually is just a matter of semantics when it comes to Sheffield, whose productive but often turbulent career has been underscored by bad endings with most of his previous seven major-league teams.

The Mets are paying just $400,000 of the 22-year veteran's $14 million salary as the Tigers ate his contract when they cut him in spring training. Sheffield, who also acknowledged annoyance that he heard about being on waivers from reporters rather than from Minaya directly, has proven he can still be a productive power bat with a team-high 10 homers and 43 RBI in just 249 at-bats.

"Gary wanted to talk a little about his future and I pretty much told him we're not ready to talk about next year or nothing like that," Minaya said. "We're in a situation we're trying to win as many games as we can."