Yankees irate over rescheduling of game

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said his team was left out of the rescheduling arrangements for one of the two Orioles games postponed Saturday, with New York bosses irate at their Baltimore counterparts' handling of the weekend weather, the New York Post reported Sunday.

But the Orioles insisted that they did nothing wrong and maintained that both Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) approved the newly-scheduled Sept. 8 date.

The situation has become a he-said-she-said affair, one that had manager Joe Girardi livid Friday night. Yankees player representative Curtis Granderson declared that the team would dispute the rescheduling and enlist the MLBPA in the fight.

But can the Yankees fight the rescheduling?

"I have no idea," Cashman said Saturday. "Major League Baseball and Baltimore never communicated with me. I wasn't aware. When we found out, MLB told us our players approved it. Our players said they didn't. MLB and the Orioles need to get together on communication issues."

Orioles director of communications Greg Bader said he does not understand the Yankees' protest.

"It's certainly news to us that the Yankees are objecting to this date, considering the Players Association, Major League Baseball and everyone else involved signed off on this scenario," Bader said Saturday. "We presented every possible scenario to them -- from a back-to-back day-night doubleheaders on a Sunday and Monday. We presented using the off-day on [Sept. 8] or using the off-day on [Sept. 15], essentially left it open-ended. Those are the only possible scenarios we could do."

Bader added that "every scenario that was presented was met with resistance. It is inaccurate to suggest that in any way the Orioles were uncooperative in this situation."

A person with knowledge of the situation said the Yankees hierarchy of Cashman, team president Randy Levine and owner Hal Steinbrenner learned at 5:00pm local time Friday that the Orioles decided to postpone both games of Saturday's scheduled doubleheader because of Hurricane Irene. Granderson said he found out about it hours later when it was announced during Friday's game at Camden Yards.

"We have not agreed to play Sept. 8," Girardi said.

The teams are scheduled to play a day-night doubleheader Sunday, and Bader said that the Orioles were in touch with local government offices and Maryland's emergency agency to ensure safety.

"We are taking every precaution necessary, from securing the facility to mapping out alternate communication plans," Bader said. "We are prepared. We are ready and monitoring the situation ... We're not going to put fans in any situation we think would be harmful."