"GARY Sheffield is coming back for one more year of baseball. The man who has never been afraid to fight is going to come back in fighting shape. He's going to train with boxer Winky Wright and get down to about 210 pounds. His goal, he said, is to play 150 games.

He's not closing the door on the Mets -- they'll have to close it on him, and that's probably going to happen. If it does, he could land with one of the Mets' biggest rivals, a return engagement with the Marlins. If not the Marlins, the Tampa native would love to sign with the Rays or even the Astros or Rangers.

Sheffield could become a thorn in the Mets' or Yankees' sides in 2010. A lot of people don't like Sheffield because he's never been afraid to approach baseball like a business and tell it like it is and demand to be paid market value.

"I produce," he said.

As for what the snake-bit Mets have to do to become a relevant team again, Sheffield got straight to the point.

"No. 1 is health -- dedication and health," he said. "You're going to get out what you put in."

In a season of humiliations, last night's 11-3 loss to the Braves was one of the worst. The "D" word, dedication, is key.

The Mets must dedicate themselves to being a team and not just a bunch of individuals wearing the same uniform.

"This team needs to focus on its identity," Sheffield said. "Anybody can get hurt. But the line has to keep moving, even when there are injuries. You can't have a team built on, 'If these guys don't come through, we're going to lose.' "

That's exactly what happened to the Mets this season. When core players went down, the Mets collapsed. The Mets can't try to be the Phillies or anyone else.

"If you do that, you're focusing on the wrong things," Sheffield said. "You focus on what you need to be successful. This team needs to focus on what's the identity of this team." "