The outspoken Yankees outfielder lashed out at the team, the media and just about anyone else he could think of on Friday afternoon, only to soften his words about two hours later as the roller-coaster ride came to an end -- at least for the day.

The topic? The $13 million option that the club holds for 2007, one which general manager Brian Cashman informed Sheffield earlier this week would likely be picked up at the end of the season.

Sheffield was pleased to hear that information on Tuesday, but his attitude toward the topic changed on Friday, as he was upset with the way he was portrayed by several media outlets, most notably ESPN.

On Tuesday, Cashman and Sheffield had a one-on-one conversation in which the GM told the player that his 2007 option would likely be picked up after the 2006 season. Some media outlets presented the story as a misunderstanding between the two men, saying that Sheffield believed the option had been picked up, even though Cashman had made no official move.

"The way it looked on TV, it made me look like I was 2 years old," Sheffield said. "I'm not going to let anyone put me in that position again, period. ... I'm not going there anymore. Just tear up the whole [darn] contract, send me somewhere else, do whatever you want. It doesn't matter. I'm sick of it."

That comment was one of many during Sheffield's 15-minute session with reporters on Friday after the Yankees' workout. Sheffield said that he believed the team should pick up his option now, based on what he had done in his first two years with the team.

"Why should I have to prove myself again? Do I have to prove myself until I'm 40? I don't have to prove I can hit," Sheffield said. "How about if you tell them not to pick it up, to erase it off the board? See if they can do that. Test me like that and see who you can go get to do what I do.

"All I do is go out and produce," he added. "So I don't have to beg for anything."

Sheffield said that even though Cashman informed him that the club would likely retain him for 2007, he didn't trust everything he was hearing from the GM.

"I don't want anybody to take my kindness as a weakness. Like I said before, this is where I want to be -- but don't test me," Sheffield said. "I trust [Cashman], but I don't trust him totally. I don't trust anyone totally. Until it's on paper, I don't trust you. It's as simple as that. ... I don't care who it is -- if it's [owner George Steinbrenner], if it's him, don't play me."

Sheffield also pointed to the guaranteed deals that several of his teammates have been given, intimating that he should be granted the same respect. Sheffield is entering the final year of a three-year, $39 million contract.

"Just like all these guys feel comfortable here, I want to feel comfortable, too," Sheffield said. "Why do I always have to have my back up against the wall, to have to prove something? You get tired of it.

"I don't want nothing leaning over my head just like they don't want nothing leaning over their heads," he added. "I'm the type of player where I don't have to wait on them. There are plenty of other teams out there that want my services; that's the bottom line. That's the way it goes."

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When Sheffield was told that the Yankees generally wait until the end of the season to address options or contract extensions, he didn't seem to believe that those rules should apply to him.

"I don't care what their history is," Sheffield said. "Every player is different, and I expect to be treated differently. Period. When they do what I do, have done what I've done, they can get what I get and ask for what I ask for. Until then, someone should do what I want to do."

After being informed of Sheffield's latest words, Cashman sat down with the player in a conference room at Legends Field.

"It was best to have a sitdown and talk to each other face-to-face, make sure we understand each other," Cashman said, declining to discuss any specifics from the meeting. "I'm glad we did. We had a good conversation, and I walked out of that feeling good, like I did the last time. It was something that was important to have.

"This is a family here, and you're going to have things come up that you'll have to talk through," the GM added. "You better take the time to do those, so you get the perspective of everybody involved."

Sheffield also spoke with reporters after the meeting, and he made it clear that his problem was not with the Yankees, but rather with the way he was portrayed by ESPN and some other media outlets.

"We're on the same page, 100 percent," Sheffield said. "But why does the negative have to come into it? This is supposed to be positive; a guy that goes out and produces and a general manager who cares about his player, wanting to say, 'We want to accommodate you at the right time.'

"It's about doing it the right way," he added. "That's what it's all about. We're not going to allow the media to come between the way things were supposed to go and the way it is now."

Cashman brought the topic of the option year up with Sheffield on Tuesday, knowing that he would be asked about it by reporters upon his arrival to Spring Training.

"I don't regret having any conversation with him, because [the media] was going to have a conversation with him," Cashman said. "This conversation was going to be had, so I wanted to have an honest discussion with him before people tried to make this an issue.

"I told him what we thought about him as a player, and that we'd deal with this over time. Right now is not the time. We never talked about him having to prove himself or not prove himself."

Sheffield acknowledged that he and Cashman have not always had the strongest relationship, as Sheffield was "always upset" with the GM's offers to him when he was a free agent. Sheffield worked out his contract directly with Steinbrenner, but he and Cashman have forged a bond during their two years together.

"I've never had an organization come to me and say, 'Eventually, we're going to take care of you.' I've never had anyone say, 'I'm going to take care of you,'" Sheffield said. "Why shouldn't I be happy? That's a first for me in 17 years. That's what I was happy about, because I feel like what I've done here for two years, they appreciate me.

"When me and Cash sit down and talk, we talk like men," he added. "That's a good feeling as a veteran player, because you're not looking for anybody to come say these things. When they do, you appreciate it."

Cashman's hope is that the issue can die down, and that any future conversations between the two men can stay between them. That is not always possible in this environment, especially with a player as unpredictable as Sheffield.

"My hope is that Gary and I will continue having discussions directly with each other, and the rest of it can stay out of the press," Cashman said. "Hopefully this is all behind us and we can go forward. There will be a time and a place for the option."

It will probably be several months before the Yankees make an official decision on Sheffield's option, but Sheffield doesn't seem concerned about a timetable.

"When it's done, that's the right time," he said. "When it happens, I'm sure it will catch me off guard and I'll be happy. And if it doesn't happen, I'll have to do what I have to do."

Although Sheffield knows that several teams would be more than happy to add him and his waggling bat to their lineup, he made it clear that remaining with the Yankees is his first choice.

"I just want to put on the uniform and do what I do," he said. "It's the fans that make me play the way I play. When I get the energy out of right field -- especially in the Yankees uniform -- those fans make me do what I do. I couldn't have played with one arm in Colorado. You can't motivate me enough to do that. Only the Yankees fans bring that out of me."