I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. But it is an indication of the frustration going on with his team. It shows what he really thought of Jason Grilli’s pitching, even though he always said the opposite when Grilli was here.

I dont even think he drives…he takes a cab to the ballpark

“Jason Grilli ought to just worry about Colorado.” – Jim Leyland

“Jim Leyland ought to just worry about his own freakin’ team and not about what Jason Grilli has to say. Practice what you preach, you overrated cheerleader.” – Timmy G

Leyland’s comments illustrated nothing more to me than frustration bordering on cluelessness. Why cluelessness? Because he continues to send out the same freakin’ lineup hoping that some switch will magically turn on. Yes, baseball is a game of averages. Eventually hitters and pitchers’ numbers will gravitate to their career averages. However, isn’t it a manager’s job to help get those numbers up to their respective averages when the numbers are currently in the toilet? Rhetorical question. The answer is yes. Instead, Mr. Leyland refuses to do anything but march Gary Sheffield out there in the 3-hole. He continues to start Nate Robertson every fifth day. He continues to let Chuck Hernandez do absolutely nothing to correct the pitching staff’s futility.

Oh, but the Tigers scored 12 runs last night right after Leyland’s rage. Chalk that up to the luck of the draw. Chalk the twelve runs up to facing Carlos Silva. There is no correlation between Leyland spewing at Jason Grilli’s comments and the team scoring twelve runs.

Leyland is a man who speaks his mind and speaks the truth. So, shouldn’t he respect what Jason Grilli and Brandon Inge both said? The reality of their comments – yeah, they spoke the truth. It’s quite apparent that their is a toal lack of chemistry amongst the team now. How many times in the last two years did FSN cameras catch pitchers in the dugout with overflowing amounts of Big League Chew in their mouth? Dozens. How many times has that happened this year? Zero (unless I missed the one or two times).

Baseball isn’t a sport where you can just march out 10 highly paid veterans and expect them to beat the world. How much success have the Yankees had in recent years? Chemistry is vital. The past two years, I can only imagine how much fun has gone on in the Tigers clubhouse. Now, for whatever reason, the attitude is quite stale. Has Leyland’s act worn thing? Possibly. Has the arrival of a few new faces caused a disturbance? Doubtful. Have the younger guys (Verlander, Bondo, etc.) not improved as much as they could have. You know it.

So, back to my original premise – Mr. Leyland, worry about getting your team back to .500. Don’t concern yourself with comments that some middle reliever in Colorado made, even if they are truthful, which I believe they are. It isn’t close to being too late for anything to happen. But, get your freakin’ head out of your backside and start bunting when you get two guys on with nobody out, especially when your team isn’t hitting a lick. Get somebody in here to lead the pitching staff so that Verlander and Bondo can come somewhat close to reaching their potential. Get Mary Sheffield out of the lineup until he proves he deserves it. Teach Carlos Guillen to throw the ball overhand so Cabrera doesn’t have to dig ALL of his throws out of the dirt. Bottom line – worry about your own freakin’ team. My confidence is not lost on the team to turn things around, but my confidence in you to lead this team is fading fast.

The End

and I agree with TimmyG, desperate move by a desperate man