Leyland: Responsibility for signs falls on us

CHICAGO -- Jim Leyland had his own problems Monday night, so he didn't have time to see the highlights of the back-and-forth between Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Orioles skipper Buck Showalter. He looked it up online Tuesday morning.

"I guess that got pretty ugly," Leyland said. "It's that time of year for umpires, managers, coaches, players."

It came a couple weeks after Leyland quietly suggested on his pregame radio segment that the A's might have been getting signs when they came to Detroit, sometimes without a runner on second base. He didn't go into that situation again specifically on Tuesday, but he referenced some suspicions he's had in some situations over the course of the season.

"I have strong views on that," Leyland said. "I think if a man at second base gets the signs and relays it to the hitter, I think shame on us. I think if the third-base coach can steal signs from the catcher, shame on us. If they're doing it by some way of electronic camera equipment or something, shame on them. If we can't come up with a set of signs that's good enough for them not to get it at second base, shame on us.

"We've been suspicious a couple times, and the guys who were pitching have the most sophisticated signs. They would be tougher than the first part of the SAT test. And we've been suspicious a couple times. If somebody gets those, that's pretty good."