Baby Steps to Last Place . . .

Apparently Buck Showalter has a few things he would like the everyone to know.

The manager of the Baltimore Orioles and former ESPN baseball tonight analyst told reporters that last season he was yelling at Derek Jeter from the dugout, much to the surprise of the garbage roster sitting in the dugout with him:

"The first time we went to Yankee Stadium, I screamed at Derek Jeter from the dugout," Showalter told the magazine, according to the Bergen Record. "Our guys are thinking, 'Wow, he's screaming at Derek Jeter.' Well, he's always jumping back from balls just off the plate. I know how many calls that team gets -- and yes, he [ticks] me off."

Look, I couldn't agree more. Jeter has been doing that his entire career and morons like fat Joe West have been falling for it. But thats not the point. Does Buck really think his guys will think they're tough and be able to compete in the AL East because he yelled at Derek Jeter in a game in September when they were about 49 1/2 out of first?

More from Showalter:

"I'd like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay [Rays] payroll. You got Carl Crawford 'cause you paid more than anyone else, and that's what makes you smarter? That's why I like whipping their butt. It's great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, 'How the hell are they beating us?' "

Again, couldn't agree more. When it comes to big-name free agency with the Sox and Yanks there is not a ton of science to it. But in Theo's defense, the Sox' average age is 26, most of those home-grown prospects like Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard, to name a few. They also were able to acquire Adrian Gonzalez by offering the most attractive set of prospects to the Padres because Theo and his team of scouts draft well every year.

I get what you're trying to do, Buck, but all the gusto in the world isn't going to stop Mark Teixeira and Big Papi from hitting bombs off of your garbage pitching staff. So before you start talking about whipping anyone's butt, why don't you just try to stay within 20 games of first by August. It's like Dr. Marvin said, baby steps. This isn't the AL West, Buck. Baby steps.