That’s perfect for the Yankees, who work pitchers and get on base as well as any team in the league. Put him in the five-hole in Yankees lineup, and he’ll score and drive in plenty of runs.

At 32, he can be expected to have at least four more good years in him, which means the Yankees can, if they choose, wave goodbye to Sheffield at year’s end and never have to deal with him again.

That’s all terrific from the Yankee perspective. But the Yankees aren’t out of the woods, yet.

As much as Abreu will help, the team still needs a starting pitcher. The Phillies threw in Cory Lidle, a serviceable journeyman who wins as often as he loses and holds the opposition to a tad less than five runs a game.

Lidle doesn’t hurt. The Yankees, who were so desperate for pitching they took a flyer on Sidney Ponson, can throw Lidle in as the fourth starter behind Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang, kick the inconsistent Jared Wright into the role of fifth starter, and toss Ponson back on the trash heap they found him on.

But, while Lidle makes the rotation better, the Yankees need more. Mussina has been mostly brilliant this year and has been the team’s true ace. Wang has been a terrific No. 3 starter, putting up a 12-4 record with a 3.77 ERA. But Johnson has been the model of inconsistency, his 11-9 record owing more to the potency of the Yankee offense than to his 5.07 ERA.

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Of course, the Boston Red Sox, who have two top starters in Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, could also use another starter. So can just about every team, with the exception of the Tigers, who have gotten 45 victories out of their top four – Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson.

Most of the time in sports, you can’t always get what you want. You can’t even always get what you need.

The Yankees got one thing they need very badly — a premier outfielder. Their chances of making the playoffs increase the moment Abreu checks into the lineup. With or without another front-line starter, it’s a very good deal.