Leyland explodes in on-air tirade

Jim Leyland goes ballistic on comments by former (Jason Grilli) and current (Brandon Inge) players over the atmosphere of the Detroit Tigers clubhouse.

Partial transcript (beeped for broadcast):

"i dont give a fuck, people start giving weak fucking excuses to the paper that pisses me off," " "I'm not looking for fucking problem's here, but I'm a man, I can take my heat when there is a problem i look in the fucking mirror, I don't look at the fucking guy next to me"

Link to audio on right side of the page:

http://www.wxyt.com/

Over-under on when Leyland stomps off the job: July 1.

 

Under...and it has nothing to do with the blowup...just the overall season.

 

I said this from the start. He's got a team of disgruntled employees.

Inge, not playing third, or catcher, or anywhere. And he deserves to be.

Guillen was playing first — out of position and angry. Now Cabrera's playing first — out of position and angry.

Cabrera comes in and gets a MONSTER contract. Sheffield gets pissed, because he's an arrogant bugger and thinks he's worth more.

The pitchers were likely frustrated early on with the offense's inability to score any runs.

Then there are the "real" problems: Rogers is old, the entire bullpen is injured, Verlander's either burned out or tipping his pitches, and the middle relief was never addressed in the off-season.

It's awful mix of everything and it's no wonder everyone, including Leyland, is pissed.

 

Does that qualify as an explosion? Leyland seemed fairly calm delivering all those f-bombs.

 

And to make it worse they have to live in Detroit until at least October.

 

For the record, the Tigers were up 11-1 last I saw. They eventually won 12-8. So at least Leyland may have sparked the offense.

 

"I don't want to hear any weak shit from Jason Grilli" is a very solid quote.

 

The best line of the rant was "Whaddya think Greg? You write a horse shit story, you don't blame John Lowe, do ya?"

 

Inge is hitting fucking .221. He doesn't deserve to be playing regularly ANYWHERE.

When Inge started running his yap as soon as Cabrera was acquired over the winter, Leyland should have told him to put a sock in it right then. He never did, so Inge has become the Tigers' version of Jon Kitna -- a gritty, gutty, scrappy buzz-cut white boy who appears to be superficially decent according to some statistics, who continually flaps his gums for the media, so he becomes the go-to guy for quotes.

Cabrera makes 5 errors in 15 games to start the season, so Leyland decides to shift a 25-year-old player who is at least capable of playing 3B at a basically-acceptable level to first base, effectively ending his defensive usefulness and dramatically increasing the chance he will spend the next 8 years (the length of his contract) drinking beer and eating pizza.

Shifting anyone to first base, before you have to and while they can still play any other position, is almost always a huge mistake. The defense of Magglio Ordonez in RF is very poor and getting worse; if they keep him another season or so, he will almost certainly have to play 1B or DH, too.

You've got to fight the tendency of your roster to logjam at the 1B/DH positions.

 

Starman, when the Tigers were 0-for-April, Inge was the ONLY Tiger playing well — and doing so out of position. He was better than average in center field. He caught a game or two if I remember correctly. He was hitting .289 through the first 16 games. Then, when everyone was finally deemed healthy, he was bounced around the field and the lineup even more. Then he was given time off (he's only played in 34 games). That's when he started to struggle. Inge and Clete Thomas were the two best Tigers in April. At that time, Inge DESERVED a solidified spot on the field and in the lineup. Perhaps not anymore, but not entirely his fault.

 

Brandon Inge should have thanked his lucky stars when Detroit gave his average ass an extension in the first place. This is the same arrogant shit that whined and cried and said this was "his team" when Pudge Rodriguez got there and that he was the starting catcher no matter what. And yes, the .220 comments were directed straight at Inge -- a guy who Leyland has protected over and over and over and over again because he's an offensive liability and a slightly above average defender.

 

Egggggzactly.

The Tigers acquire Pudge Rodriguez, a Hall-of-Famer to be, and Inge bitches about losing his starting job.

The Tigers acquire Cabrera, very possibly a Hall-of-Famer to be, and Inge bitches about losing his starting job.

Inge is hitting .221. Who gives a shit what he thinks about the atmosphere in the locker room?

But Leyland brought this all on himself, by not coming down on Inge with the shit-hammer about three months ago.