Buck Goes Off on Bud. Calls him Out by Name.

[Pruke]

Dumb remark by Buck. Bud doesn't control what the CBA says, and Buck shouldn't be mentioning Wieters by name in a remark like this. How is Wieters supposed to take that?

I think he's spot on and showing a truly vested interest in the future of the orioles. I fail to see how that's dumb.

[scOtt]

Why is everyone saying Buck made a bad comment about Wieters?

It was a compliment, and that's how Wieters will take it. Buck is saying Wieters is so good, the Yankees will overpay for him.

What is so bad about that?

I agree some. But I was also thinking, one of the first things probably Buck did after the presser was talk to Wieters. If they hadn't already spoken beforehand when they heard the news. Buck and Matt is probably the #1 closest relationship on this team. Personally and on the field. Buck defended and put Wieters in charge from day one of his tenure. Running the game together. Buck's Field General.

This is not Buck flying off the handle in some press conference.

[birdcrazy]

I think Wieters wants to be here, and maybe even at a discount. The issue is, he has Bora's screaming in his ear how the Orioles don't "value" him like they do Jones, or Markakis, and he should go to the team that "values" him the most. (i.e. pays most).

I don't think that Buck makes this comment unless he has caught wind of something that is going in with Wieters that shows he is adapting a highest bidder mentality.

It also could be a mind game..maybe by making it sound like Wieters could go to the highest bidder he puts him on notice.

It might just be brutal honest truth but that's still a really interesting comment you can definitely read into and come to a few conclusions. What does Buck think of Wieters and does this call Wieters' loyalty into question, and does he have to say anything about it?

I am fine with athletes chasing a dollar but now I think there's going to be people who want to ask Wieters some questions now. I don't think Buck would say something like that unless there was something more interesting going on.

[scOtt]

I think he's spot on and showing a truly vested interest in the future of the orioles. I fail to see how that's dumb.

Also not just the interests of the Orioles, he's (now) a leading voice opposing this move. Almost ALL the other teams are going to be upset by this, Buck is the first to speak out and I hope it embiggens other managers or GMs to speak out also!

I'm no lawyer, could this even be collusion? Can the League and a team even collude?

[hanging_curve]

Also not just the interests of the Orioles, he's (now) a leading voice opposing this move. Almost ALL the other teams are going to be upset by this, Buck is the first to speak out and I hope it embiggens other managers or GMs to speak out also!

I'm no lawyer, could this even be collusion? Can the League and a team even collude?

There are always things that are to big to fail. Certain banks were bailed out because their survival was tied into market confidence. The Yankees are baseball! If the Yankees were hamstrung with contracts that made them noncompetitive for years then baseball would have a marketing problem. MLB could lose global market-share for entertainment dollars. The inherent problem is that the Yankees have to win or be competitive on a level playing field while pursuing an inflationary business strategy that can and will collapse when undoubtedly some of the contracts go south. MLB and the Players Union have a common interest which is profitability! Hence, both are vested in providing a solution that will flood the market with free agent dollars but retain the integrity of the game. The solution is simple MLB needs to market other cities which it has done by creating the revenue sharing system. However, as long as baseball is branded to handful of teams it will have problems when those teams inevitably fail. My problem with the whole thing is the transparency of the ploy. I like my miracle, mystery and authority and when I can see the wizard behind the curtain then it's time to call FOUL!

[Malike]

Have no fear, Showalter and Wieters are as thick as thieves. Matt is his leader, and I have no doubt that Matt knows that Buck wasn't trying to blast him in that quote. I don't think for one minute that Matt is going to feel slighted, he knows Buck well, and I honestly doubt that anyone in baseball respects Matt as much as Buck does.

[kaerts111]

It basically singles out Wieters as a mercenary who will sell himself to the highest bidder. And while Boras may indeed lead Matt down that path, it's a bad idea to say that about a guy who is trying to help his team make the playoffs and likely will still be here the next two years.

Yeah it was a pretty terrible thing for Buck to say IMO, singling out one of your teams players like that is just plan bad. I think he was just making a point and that was all - it was no doubt taken the wrong way. I'm sure no one on that team particularly cared for the comment either... esp Wieters who I'm sure was not pleased by having been put in a negative light. It should not have been said, but Buck is Buck, and say what you will, he speaks his mind and is an honest man - a rare thing in this day in age.

On the other hand you have a 'man' -no scratch that, an individual that represents all that is bad in baseball, a money grubbing weasel, who began not as a baseball player, (which he never was, but a big-time stock holder, go figure...) and who can be sold to the highest bidder; he has also imposed an air of political correctness to the game that I find completely unnecessary and absolutely repellant. Who am I talking about, well yes the way old commissioner Bud Selig. I guarantee you that he will have a hand in it NO DOUBT to kick the monkey "AROD" off the backs of the yankees and thereby clearing their slate. -I mean you just cant have America's favorite team be beaten by the likes of the Baltimore Orioles, that just won't do! By hook or by crook (Selig) the yankees will be freed of breaking contract, and Selig will be instrumental in this movement.

[Frobby]

The CBA says players don't get paid during a drug suspension. So what is MLB supposed to do -- not suspend ARod because it will punish the Yankees? Cut his suspension from what he deserves because it will punish the Yankees? Like everyone else, I'm waiting to see all the punishments handed out, but if ARod wouldn't accept the same punishment others did, what is MLB supposed to do, say "never mind, we'd rather punish the Yankees than punish you"? It's unfortunate that this situation may benefit the Yankees a lot, but to me that doesn't make it a conspiracy between MLB and the Yankees, nor should MLB go light on ARod because of "competitive balance."

[Can_of_corn]

The CBA says players don't get paid during a drug suspension. So what is MLB supposed to do -- not suspend ARod because it will punish the Yankees? Cut his suspension from what he deserves because it will punish the Yankees? Like everyone else, I'm waiting to see all the punishments handed out, but if ARod wouldn't accept the same punishment others did, what is MLB supposed to do, say "never mind, we'd rather punish the Yankees than punish you"? It's unfortunate that this situation may benefit the Yankees a lot, but to me that doesn't make it a conspiracy between MLB and the Yankees, nor should MLB go light on ARod because of "competitive balance."

What they should have done to begin with. Force the teams to either put the suspended players' withheld salary into the revenue sharing pot or donate it to charity. How big a PR win would it be for MLB then to have Arod's 25 million a year going to a half dozen charities?

[rO'sesrfree]

I think this is getting way overanalyzed. The Yankees have no catcher.

...yup

[UpstateNYfan]

I don't know what to think about Buck's comment. It can be taken many ways and perhaps he was just making a point.

However, methinks that MLB and the Yankees will be in for a nasty lawsuit by Boras if the suspension goes through without actual blood test results. My guess is 1-2 billion dollar suit based on not only lost salary but lost lifetime revenue.

This will be dragging on for a long time.

It is very ironic that there are rules against PEDs to maintain a competitive balance, but few rules against teams (Yanks, Dodgers, and others) that ruin competitive balance based on their salary structure.

[waroriole]

What they should have done to begin with. Force the teams to either put the suspended players' withheld salary into the revenue sharing pot or donate it to charity. How big a PR win would it be for MLB then to have Arod's 25 million a year going to a half dozen charities?

That would be the ideal solution.

Anyone else find it odd that Cashman and Levine continuously state that they have had no contact with MLB on this and they don't seem upset by it at all.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't know what to think about Buck's comment. It can be taken many ways and perhaps he was just making a point.

However, methinks that MLB and the Yankees will be in for a nasty lawsuit by Boras if the suspension goes through without actual blood test results. My guess is 1-2 billion dollar suit based on not only lost salary but lost lifetime revenue.

This will be dragging on for a long time.

It is very ironic that there are rules against PEDs to maintain a competitive balance, but few rules against teams (Yanks, Dodgers, and others) that ruin competitive balance based on their salary structure.

Player's Union might be in for a rough time as well. It certainly looks like they are rolling over for MLB. Not sure what obligations they actually have to fight for players tho.

[Frobby]

What they should have done to begin with. Force the teams to either put the suspended players' withheld salary into the revenue sharing pot or donate it to charity. How big a PR win would it be for MLB then to have Arod's 25 million a year going to a half dozen charities?

Fine, but that's not what the CBA says, nor should it. The CBA can't distinguish between the teams you like and the ones you don't, the players you like and the ones you don't, or the situations where a team has benefitted a long time from the player using PEDs and the situations where it hasn't. Let's say the O's signed Manny to a 10 year $120mm deal this offseason and then he was found to have done something warranting a lifetime ban, how would you feel about it then?

[waroriole]

Player's Union might be in for a rough time as well. It certainly looks like they are rolling over for MLB. Not sure what obligations they actually have to fight for players tho.

Yeah, the union is acting like real sweethearts to MLB. Marvin Miller must be turning over in his grave.