Red Sox manager Terry Francona expressed his annoyance to Buck Showalter’s comments about Boston’s General Manager Theo Epstein. Francona said he thought Showalter “was a little but out of line,” according to MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli, who caught up with Francano before Sunday’s game against Baltimore.
In case you’ve missed this ongoing saga, Showalter told Men’s Journal that he would like to see how smart Epstein would be with Tampa Bay’s payroll and said he likes “whipping their butt” with their $205 million payroll.
“I don’t think he’d be appreciating if I said something about Andy, which I wouldn’t,” Francona said. “And for the record, I think Andy’s really good.” Me too Terry.
Ghiroli also talked about Showalter’s comments with President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail. “I think we all understood when we interviewed Buck, one of the things we were looking to get was somebody that has a personality about him, has some success,” MacPhail said.
In a later blog post, Ghiroli points out that the Red Sox organization has added a section to their game notes called “Theo’s Tenure,” before their game against the Orioles on Sunday.
Here’s what it says: “Theo Epstein has led Boston to 6 playoff appearances and 6 95-win seasons in years since taking over as GM, prior to 2003. Under Epstein, the Sox lead MLB in World Series titles (2), and postseason series wins (8)…He was named GM of the decade by Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News…Boston was also tabbed by Baseball America as having the best amateur drafts of the last decade.”
I was told this is a new addition to the game notes. Interesting timing isn’t it?
Nothing Showalter said was incorrect. For whatever reason large market teams don’t like when their huge payrolls are brought to light. Buck is the man.
Hey look, at least ESPN and the other talking heads are at least talking about the Orioles…
Nothing Buck said was incorrect?
It was an opinion Zach, not a factual statement.
It was bush league of Buck to talk about another GM especially when he’s taking of a team’s gotten destroyed by that team for years.
Buck has already backtracked from his comments numerous times as well.
And let’s not forget what Buck said when asked about the Red Sox and Yankees back in January. You know, how he didn’t care about them and only cared about the Orioles.
Yea, ESPN is talking about the Orioles. Of course, it’s got nothing to do with anything on the field.
It’s only bush league because he wears an Orioles uniform Mark. If anyone in the Orioles organization said the sky was blue, the anti-Orioles crowd would argue it’s green. You can give me all this crap about 13 season…bla bla bla I’m tired of hearing about it.
It wasn’t bush league when John Harbaugh said he liked when Ben Roethlisberger’s nose was broken, but it is when Showalter points out the Red Sox payroll?
I don’t get how you, who helped me argue off Red Sox fans last year, can support a team that’s built itself around gigantic payroll. That’s all Buck said.
And his opinion on Jeter is factually accurate. The guy acted like he got hit by a pitch last year and it hit the nob of his bat.
I’m not going around in circles with you this year. You’re not changing my mind and I know where your message is coming from. Until the Orioles make the playoffs a certain crowd of people won’t think that anything they do is right. I don’t get it, but it is the case. Keep sticking up for the Red Sox and Yankees, I’ll side with the guy that’s trying to turn this thing around.
Zach
You really need to think before you post.
First of all, I don’t support ANYTHING about the Red Sox. I’ll certainly point out facts though. The Red Sox AREN’T only based around a gigantic payroll. Do I have to list their homegrown talent again? Really?
I’ll tell you what’s gotten really old. Complaining about the Yankees and Red Sox payroll. Once again MacPhail and now Buck are alluding to it BEFORE the season starts. How come the Mets stink Zach? They spend out the ass. They stink because they are poorly run. Why have the Orioles stunk? Because they have been poorly run. They have far more resources to use than most teams in the entire league. They still are far behind in international scouting and continue to miss out on young free agent kids from Latin America. The Orioles have one of the worst farm systems with regard to position players. Machado looks to be a stud but he’s years away.
And since when do managers of a perennial losing team call out other GMs? Buck called Epstein to clear things up! I think that says quite a bit. So while you champion his comments, he’s actually backtracking and distancing himself from them. And I like Buck. I’m happy as hell he’s the manager.
And his opinion of Jeter actually isn’t accurate.
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post?id=17537
Your reasoning is that instance in TB last year? Yea, Jeter is the only guy to do that.
Once again, you let your hatred of a team cloud reality. My hatred for the Yankees and especially the Red Sox is off the charts.
And don’t put words into my mouth about what would make me happy. You bring up the playoffs? Gimme a freakin break dude. I’ll take a competent MLB team at this point. Last year I sat here reading all your ridiculous talk about the Yankees falling off, the Rays coming back to earth, and how the Orioles could really make some noise. Then they proceeded to go a record setting pace for losses for the first 4 months of the season.
And how am I “anti” Oriole? Because I don’t come around with positive comments about a horrible team? Because I don’t think they’ll get to .500 this year? I go to more games than anyone I know. Hell, I flew across the country to SF last year to see them play.
It’s quite a phenomenon that goes on. The team stinks yearly and the people who point out the flaws and don’t believe they are on the right track catch the grief!
Is it better to just keep saying they are getting better even if they aren’t?
Back to the original point. I support Buck Showalter as manager of this team.
But his comments were ill advised and his subsequent comments and actions pretty much show that.
I’m not doing this again this year Mark. Think before I post? I thought about it and I think you get your opinions from NST. They’re posting the same propaganda right now.
Where’s the comments on Harbaugh’s real bush league comments? MIA. Just like NST’s. But taking shots at the Sox and Yankees is bush league? Ok…
You talk all about the money that the Orioles are just sitting on. Forbes ranked them the 18th richest team in baseball. 18th. What resources are you talking about? The ones behind the Nationals, Mariners and Astros? Yes the Nationals, even though they own their TV network the Orioles were behind the Nats.
We’ve got a manager who is proving to his players that he isn’t going to be pushed around by Boston and New York. So far complaints have come from Boston, New York, WNST and Mark.
It’s ok to support the Orioles when they do something right. Buck’s remarks are part of the proof that he’s changed the attitude of this organization. Using a clear up call and proof that he backed down is bull. He called because he was pressured too, surely he meant what he said. He also said that.
Talk about putting words in my mouth. I never said playoff team, I just said until they go to the playoffs this anti-Orioles crap is going to continue from the small group of people that keep spewing it. If that’s not what’s going to stop the propaganda what is?
We’re a few days from opening day. People are excited. Gimme a freaking break and let that last for at least a month. You can be Debbie downer in May.
Yea Zach, think before you post.
Stop calling someone Anti Oriole because they think the team isn’t good and is poorly run.
Stop whining about the Red Sox payroll when they’ve clearly done everything better then the Orioles have for the past 15 years. It’s a complete red herring to constantly whine about the other teams when your team is inept.
YOU mentioned playoffs. And again, I’ll tell you that I’m not even asking for that. I’m asking for something better than last place and 90 + losses. But again, that seems to be too much to ask from this team.
And you think it’s a minority? Dude, the team has lost so many fans it’s hard to fathom just how many that number truly is. People don’t care. We are the minority Zach. Yea, you and I. People still invested enough to spend time and energy talking about the team.
What Buck did wasn’t “right”. You just like it. Great. He made comments about the two teams that constantly kick the crap out of the Orioles. You can spin it however you want but he clearly doesn’t wanna own those comments. And I don’t blame him. It was dumb to say. And I’ve heard people who are “anti Oriole” as you say, say the same thing. It was contradictory and head scratching considering he said the opposite in January.
How is it that the Orioles upped their payroll this year? It certainly wasn’t due to revenue generated at the gates. It’s because they have an unbelieveable deal that allows them to enjoy 100% of MASN’s Oriole revenue along with a huge portion of the Nationals revenue. No team in the league has such a setup like that. The Orioles will never see less than 66% of the the National’s TV money.
And spare me the NST stuff. You tried that last year. I form my opinions on my own.
When you decide to acknowledge the Orioles flaws and stop deflecting their ineptness onto other entities that have nothing to do with it, then maybe things will change around here.
The Red Sox and Yankee payrolls have nothing to do with the Orioles inability to draft well, develop players well, market well, and basically become a decent product.
It’s their own fault.
So go ahead and call me a debbie downer because I call a spade a spade. I mean, it’s not like it’s a pattern or anything.
18th richest team in baseball according to Forbes.
Still nothing about Harbaugh’s actual offensive comments. Much like the opinion of 1570 AM.
Consider this my last post on this topic. I work way too hard on this website to have anyone tell me to think before I post here.
Nice Punt.
I think you downed the ball inside the one.
When you suggest that I support the Boston Red Sox, I will absolutely tell you to think before you post.
It’s akin to me saying that you support the Steelers.
In other words, it’s highly insulting.
No punting. I’m just not going to go around in circles with you this year. You won’t convince me and I won’t convince you. Pretty simple.
I will say though that you illustrated my point about Harbaugh beautifully. Both coaches, manager in Buck’s case said something controversial. While Harbaugh’s remark felt forced for a guy that typically speaks like a politician, the fans and local media, including myself, loved it. It was his way of supporting his players and proving that his team won’t back down to their toughest rival.
What’s the difference with Buck’s comment?
Certainly not winning percentage, because Buck has beaten the Yankees and Red Sox more than Harbs has beaten Roethlisberger.
It’s the same thing…
I doubt anything would convince you Zach. It’s as if another 95+ loss season was just a blip on the radar and that the plan is somehow in effect.
And I really don’t understand your harping on the Harbaugh thing. I don’t the guy free passes for much of anything. Does the general fan base? Pretty much.
You say you won’t go in circles. How many more years of losing until you do take the team to task?
It’s like Groundhog day. The team stinks yet you whistle past the graveyard and seem to pretend nothings wrong.