Maybe it’s a way for his team to get into the big boys’ heads or the Baltimore Orioles manager just likes to create controversy.  Either which way, Buck Showalter is not afraid to call out his AL East rivals days before the season before the season begins.

“The first time we went to Yankee Stadium, I screamed at Derek Jeter from the dugout,” Showalter said in the April issue of Men’s Journal . “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.”

He also called out the Boston Red Sox GM and wondered if he could work his magic with a smaller payroll.

“I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay [Rays] payroll,” Showalter. “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?’”

Showalter won’t have to wait too long to get the reactions from either Jeter or Epstein.  The Orioles visit the Yankees on April 12-14 and they host the Red Sox on april 26-28.