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James Shields had a sign made for the Padres locker room. Annie Heilbrunn tweeted about it a few days ago.
There's a huge new yellow sign in the #Padres clubhouse that has this quote: "If you don't like it... Play better." -- Accountability
— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) May 30, 2015
Marty Caswell of the Mighty1090 asked him about it in a video interview yesterday.
Video- Sending a message?James Shields on why he hung a sign on Accountability & playing better in Padres clubhouse http://t.co/pT5OFt79ur
— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) June 2, 2015
He explains that it's all about accountability. He says he's not one to make excuses. He tells the story about his time in the minor leagues when he was complaining to his dad about an umpire squeezing him or a teammate being called up before him and his dad told him that if he didn't like he should play better. He says that people can take the message on the sign however they want.
To me this suggests that there is a problem with accountability in the clubhouse and this is Shields' way of passive aggressively addressing it. I doubt a sign is going to help and I bet there's a few guys in the clubhouse that it is directed at even though Shields won't say who they are.