FanHouse Don Zimmer

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* Former Orioles skipper Leo Mazzone on his old employer: "Once I got there and saw how they operated compared to the Braves, I knew I made a mistake the first week of spring training," he said, before chuckling and adding, "I said to myself, 'You know what? I done messed up.' The lack of organization. The lack of discipline. The lack of overall professionalism. I was shocked, and I couldn't believe it."

Yesterday we told you about the comments Jorge Posada made about The Great Joba Debate during yesterday's taping for the YES show "CenterStage." It turns out those weren't his only controversial comments.

Posada also revealed he still holds a grudge against Pedro Martinez from the 2003 ALCS, saying Martinez has "no class" for pushing Don Zimmer to the ground and apparently throwing at Karim Garcia's head during the 2003 ALCS. The picture on the right is Posada screaming at Martinez from the dugout after Garcia was hit. What you can't see is Pedro's reaction: he pointed at his head, which most people interpreted as a threat that he'll hit him, too.

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for Posada's comments to make their way to the Mets' clubhouse. Pedro denied he threw at Garcia's head on purpose and also tried to explain the whole pointing thing one more time. From Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post:

"When I pointed to the head, it wasn't precisely to tell him that I wanted to hit him in the head," Martinez said. "Nah. He's a human being, he has a family, and I'm a professional. [The pointing to the head] was because he cursed my mom. I was telling him, 'I'll remember that.' "

[...] "He knows - he's Latin, as much as he pretends to be American, he's Latin - that cursing your mom in Latin America will get you into a fight," Martinez said. "That's something I would never do to his mom, because she doesn't play. She's not on the field. She's someone you admire and respect, and I didn't like that."

If Martinez is telling the truth, Posada might want to re-think that "no class" comment -- pot, kettle, black, all that stuff. (Also, Pedro? Americans don't take kindly to people talking about their mothers, either. Just saying.)

"Mr. Longoria! Do you think that the 2008 Rays are the 69 Mets in disguise?"
"I don't know, but do you want to see my impression of the 2007 Mets?"
"Sure!"
"/collapses"

Cinderella's glass slipper has broken. Snow White is comatose and being cared for by dwarves. Gaston is trying to stab the Beast to death. Whatever your comparison, the Rays have hit a snag and are down with one crucial injury after another with only a few games keeping them on top of the division. The baseball world watches with anticipation to see if the team can hold together and overcome the odds.

What are the Rays going to do? Who will fill those holes in the lineup? Can you type on the Internet with a broken wrist? Do the Rays have anything to do with free agency? These questions and more (slightly more) in tonight's Dugout, after the jump.

The collision in the video above resulted in a broken wrist for Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli. Now even though Cervelli probably wasn't going to make the Yankees roster this season, the play and subsequent injury did anger his manager Joe Girardi after the game.

"I think it's uncalled for. It's Spring Training. You get people hurt and that's what we've got – we've got Cervelli hurt. I know they had an incident four or five days ago. I'm all for playing hard, but I don't think it's the time when you run over a catcher in Spring Training."

Girardi's response then brought on this response from Rays senior baseball advisor, and Pedro Martinez punching bag, Don Zimmer.

"It stunk," Zimmer said."Somebody said on the bench when it happened that Girardi looked like he was angry. Now I took it that he was angry because his man got hurt - not because anybody did anything wrong. That's the way I took it, knowing Girardi. And somebody on the bench said he thought Girardi was mad because he bowled him over. I said, 'No, I don't think so. That's not Girardi.'

Outside of his 2004 imbroglio with Pedro Martinez that will forever be burned into my brain, it's been a while since Don Zimmer was really relevant. Still, since every angle of Joe Torre Firefest 2007 has been covered, it couldn't hurt to hear what old friend Zimmer has to say about Joe. Clue: he's not pleased:

"It was sad the way it was handled," Zimmer said. "What has the man done? It speaks for itself. To let him sit there for 10-12 days is bullc---, and then all you hear about is 'keep Torre, don't keep Torre.' ... Do things in a better way than that. You've got so many people over there now involved, I don't know.

"Where do they stand now? They're going to interview six managers? Let them have a good time."

"How tough is it to fire somebody if you do it the right way?" he said. "I've been fired. What's so bad about that? You call someone in, tell them you want to go in a different direction, and that's it. In baseball somewhere along the line most people get fired in some capacity."

Zimmer might be old and out of it, but he makes a point: if your plan is to fire someone, just fire them. Transparency and honesty typically come off a lot better than savviness and greasiness, especially when everyone already knows what you're getting at. Score one for the Zimmeister.

(HT: BBTF)

The New York media may be ready to pour some gasoline on Joe Torre's hot seat, but at least good ol' Don Zimmer has his back. Not only that, Zim thinks he knows the root of the Yankees' current malaise: GM Brian Cashman. From the New York Post:

"To me, Cashman is the problem," Zimmer said yesterday without going into detail. "Four or five years ago, we were in the coaches' room and talking about the club and he said, 'Anybody can manage this team.' Well, let him manage that team now with all those injuries."

I know Zimmer is trying to defend his buddy, but is he? Isn't he just saying that Joe Torre manages well when his players are healthy and struggles when they're hurt? Isn't that why Torre is on the hot seat in the first place? In any case, Zimmer apparently thinks anyone can do Cashman's job, second-guessing the GM's decision not to extend Torre or Mariano Rivera before the season:

"The Yankees should show a lot of class and extend Joe Torre and Mariano Rivera for a year," said Zimmer, who left the Yankees ticked at George Steinbrenner and works for the Devil Rays. "They are two of the classiest Yankees in the past 12 years. Why should Mo be in [a free-agent] situation? They give millions of dollars to guys who don't pitch and this guy has been there every day for the past 12 years. They should take care of the good people."

They should take care of good people who do their job well. And, while it's still early, neither Joe nor Mo can say they fit into that category this year.