So Brian Cashman would like Alex Rodriguez to shut up. Theo Epstein showed Ian Stewart what it cost him for not shutting up. All general managers and baseball executives would like their players to shut up. They pay them to be seen, not heard.
The time has come, however, for these executives to get a taste of their foolish reactions to players’ public comments.
Cashman, who apparently thinks he’s Superman by diving out of airplanes and climbing the outside of buildings, unleashed an obscene outburst at Rodriguez Tuesday night after the recuperating third baseman had tweeted that the surgeon who had operated on his left hip had told him he could begin playing.
In Cashman’s view Rodriguez was as wrong for tweeting that news as Stewart was for his public criticism of the Cubs and their manager, Dale Sveum. The difference was the Cubs suspended Stewart, a minor leaguer making $2 million this season, for violating a loyalty clause in the uniform player’s contract.
The Yankees took no disciplinary action against Rodriguez; Cashman just told him publicly and harshly to “shut the (blank) up.”
If a player had made a similar comment publicly, I feel certain that Commissioner Bud Selig would at least fine him, if not suspend him for a game or two. I sought to get comment from Selig through his spokesman but heard nothing from either one of them.
Selig was not involved in the Stewart matter because the third baseman had been sent outright to the minor leagues, which meant he did not have union protection in spite of his $2 million major league salary.
“No doubt if he had been a major league player a grievance would have filed,” a union lawyer said. “It was a heavy handed suspension.”
Indeed it was. The Cubs reached far and wide to find an excuse to take the action they did. What they found was the loyalty clause in the uniform player’s contract, paragraph 3(a).
The paragraph, however, says nothing about speech or criticism of the team or the people who run it. The clause talks about the player agreeing to perform diligently and faithfully, keeping himself in first-class physical condition and obeying training rules and pledging himself “to the American public and to the Club to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play and good sportsmanship.”
Are we supposed to believe that Stewart violated “high standards of personal conduct?” By expressing his views?
The suspension cost Stewart $109,000 of his $2 million salary. Having released him, the Cubs will pay him the remainder of his salary. Larry Reynolds, Stewart’s agent, said the two sides made no agreement to execute the release.
“They fined him 10 days pay, released him and he gets the rest of his contract paid,” Reynolds said by telephone. “The biggest thing was to get his release.”
Some media outlets reported that Stewart’s suspension was upheld, but he didn’t challenge it so there was nothing to uphold.
Rodriguez and Cashman wound up discussing, if not resolving, their verbal skirmish in a clear-the-air telephone conversation that A-Rod initiated before the Yankees’ game Wednesday night. Their talk came after Hal Steinbrenner, the team’s managing partner, told Cashman that the way he handled the matter was “an issue,” MLB.com reported.
Rodriguez triggered the incident by sending a message to followers of his Twitter account, telling them that his surgeon, Dr. Bryan Kelly, “gave me the best news – the green light to play games again!”
Cashman had previously denied a newspaper report with similar news and apparently was irate that Rodriguez announced the news himself. When it comes to injury and rehabilitation, the Yankees have a lengthy history, dating to at least the early 1970s, of lying. If they’re going to lie or at the least manage the news, they can’t have players disclosing information.
When Cashman learned of A-Rod’s Twitter message, he told ESPNNewYork, “Alex should just shut the … up.”
Cashman did not return a telephone call seeking comment, but meeting with reporters at Yankee Stadium, he said, “Ninety-nine times out of 100, I roll with it pretty good. I didn’t roll with this one well at all. I popped. I sounded off. Reality TV at its best.”
Cashman, though, will not be disciplined for his outburst. Had Selig commented for this column, he would most likely have said that. Why would I discipline him, the commissioner would very likely have responded.
Well, for one thing, I could have told him, Cashman has made a national joke. His telling A-Rod to “shut the (blank) up” was the highlight of David Letterman’s monologue Wednesday night.
“Girls, girls, girls,” Letterman said. “You’re both beautiful.”
Continuing the fun Cashman had provided with his outburst, Letterman said, “There’s a better chance of getting A-Rod to drive in runs in October than to get him to shut up.”
Jokes aside, I think by now players should have become wary of their (mis)adventures with and on Twitter. They are like children with new toys. Whether Stewart should have been suspended or Rodriguez ridiculed, why do players feel the need to send messages on Twitter?
They are professionals so let them act like professionals. Major League Baseball and individual teams have social media rules or guidelines, but players should be intelligent enough and have enough self-discipline to keep away from potential problems.
Maybe Major League Baseball has rules for use of social media because it knows its players wouldn’t be able to avoid the Twitter temptation. Players have to be saved from themselves.
Even if that is reality, though, it’s no reason for clubs and club executives to punish players for speech.