Threat or motivation

Before you start to speculate that Carlos Pena is a target, Leyland went out of his way to say he wasn’t talking specifically about Pena,Cheap San Diego Padres Hats, that he was talking more in general. And Pena has shown pretty decent bat control so far,San Diego Padres Hats sale, walking five times. If it’s something other than a carrot for his non-roster guys and prospects,Cleveland Indians Hats, then it probably involves overall performance in camp rather than just game action. It’s hard for me to speculate what it means,NBA Snapback Hats, because I’ve only covered him for a few weeks. But he’s a veteran of getting his message out through the media,Cleveland Indians Hats,Sunday Tigers vs. Twins, and he knows a lot of players read the clips in the morning. It’s something to keep in mind as we get into a tough week of games for this club this early in the schedule.

"Everybody’s got people penciled in here and penciled in there. We’ve played three games and I don’t know what the [heck] we’re doing yet,Texas Rangers Hats, to be honest with you. But I can tell you one thing,wholesale Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, we’re not going to give jobs away."
That begs the question: Is Leyland trying to provide a spark to the minor leaguers and non-roster invitees he has to use, or is he really thinking about putting some jobs on the line? If it’s the latter,Famous Hats sale, it would be an odd thing to do with a team this early in camp, not to mention one that has won three of its four games and which is pounding the ball. Plus, Leyland has said that he doesn’t like to make much out of spring training performances, so why put jobs on the line now?
But then Leyland issues a thinly-veiled threat about his roster situation:
After talking about Dmitri Young’s quad injury, Jim Leyland went into lamenting his roster situation. With four regulars,Wholesale Chicago Cubs Hats, a closer and a setup man out for the WBC and two other regulars injured,Wholesale new era mlb hats, the Tigers are shorthanded with another set of split-squad games looming Thursday,Wholesale Atlanta Braves Hats, and he’s already worried he’s playing Brandon Inge,Philadelphia Phillies Hats sale, Chris Shelton, Curtis Granderson and Nook Logan too much.
"We’re going to take the 25 best guys,Wholesale Toronto Blue Jays Hats, and surprisingly, I’m going to send this message that there’s more spots available on this team than I thought there were going to be. I can tell you that for a fact. I’m not going to go in-depth about it,Boston Red Sox Hats, but I can tell you I’m surprised. We’re not giving jobs away. I’m talking about in general,cheap St Louis Cardinals Hats, there may be more opportunities here than I thought there were. …