The original quote from Bobby V was:
"I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason,'' Valentine said Sunday. "But [on Saturday] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there."
He has since said it wasn't meant to motivate Youklis and that his comment was misinterpreted because according to him he was talking about his swing.
Of course Pedroia decided to back up Youk with this:
"I really don't know what Bobby is trying to do," Pedroia said Monday. "That's not the way we go about our stuff around here. He'll figure that out. The whole team is behind Youk. We have each other's backs here."
Pedroia was then asked whether he thought Valentine perhaps was trying to light a fire under Youkilis, who is hitting .200 on the young season.
"Maybe that works in Japan," Pedroia said, referring to Valentine's successful stints as a manager in that country.
Now even though it wasn't a big comment from Pedroia, it still reeks of an "us vs the manager" type of attitude. They all don't seem to be on the same page, especially when he says of his manager, "He'll figure that out".
Whatever it is, the point of this thread was that the Jays could benefit from the dysfunction they have going on there.
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