Update: The signs have been taken down in the visitors' clubhouse.

I just received a call from MLB VP of Public Relations Pat Courtney, assuring me that players are allowed to drink whatever they want in the dugout. This was in response to an earlier blog entery about signs in the U.S. Cellular Field visitors' clubhouse that read, "NO BOTTLED WATER ON THE BENCH."

Said Courtney, "Players are allowed to have water. We have no jurisdiction over the regular season."

Perhaps it was the White Sox that ordered the signs -- not surprising, given the organization's controlling, overbearing attitude in general.

Apparently, what the White Sox hope is that the players pour their water into empty Gatorade bottles.

Courtney did say that in the postseason, when there is a conflict between a team's sponsor and an MLB sponsor, players may be asked to remove labels from bottled drinks.