Here, use this

I don’t normally talk shop here, but I figure this might come up.

By now, my story on Jim Leyland saying this team has no identity and no swagger is already online. And while it’s classic Leyland material, I’m sure somebody out there will brush it off as Leyland using the media to test the players, and the media gobbling it up.

Here’s the thing: We’ll gladly take it. In this situation, we don’t mind being used.

This issue came up last year when Dmitri Young insisted last September that he was legitimately hurt and accused some people in the clubhouse of doubting him. To me, in these cases, I’m not taking one side or the other by printing it. I wasn’t going to run tests on Young’s leg last September, and I’m going to gauge how mean the players are. To me, the statements themselves can be the news depending on who they’re coming from.

In Wednesday’s case, there’s little doubt in my mind that Leyland was putting the swagger thing out there in print to see how his players react. I have no idea whether or not he believes it, and that’s fine. Leyland can use the media to determine a story and advance an idea. If you don’t get around to what he wants to discuss on a given day, he’ll get around to it for you. To me, though, that’s a good quality to have in a manager. It’s something I’m not sure Alan Trammell ever had — not that he was a bad manager for it, but it wasn’t in his nature. He’s not built like that. Leyland definitely is. We’ll see where it leads when we get into the regular season.