The LaRoche Situation

[A.E]

Curious to hear thoughts on this topic.  Adam LaRoche is apparently walking away from $13M this season b/c the White Sox asked him to bring his son around the clubhouse less. LaRoche's son has literally been with the team every day; so much so that he had his own locker in the club house last season. 
 
I'm all about the father-to-son piece of baseball but I can't fault the Sox for telling LaRoche to dial it back. Its a professional environment and nobody should bring their kid to work, literally, every day.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I'm on the Sox side. It's a business. It's OK to have the kid around sometimes but not constantly.

 

[Big Bid'Ness]

LaRoche will be back sooner or later.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Its starting to sound like the team president made this decision without getting feedback from the players.

Players considered not playing their game yesterday in protest, and reportedly Chris Sale told the president to "stay out of the clubhouse".

 

[Pugz]

im on the business side as well but if no one else on the team cared about him being around then it shouldn't have been a problem.

 

[Sportsguy9695]

I agree with the Sox that it is a businness and you cant be bringing your kid every day. you dont see anyone else that works bring there kid to work. if someone brought there kid to work every day in the real world no work would get done. once in a while is ok but everyday is a no no

 

[A.E]

Sale reportedly told Kenny Williams to "stay the f#ck out of the clubhouse." I can agree with the players not wanting upper management poking around the clubhouse. My question: Where is Robin Ventura in all this?  Could you imagine someone trying to pull this shit on Sciosia or Hurdle? 

 

[elcheato]

 

[elcheato]

I dont know why the White Sox management cares about this. Seems like they just wanted LaRoche off their books, so they pulled this trick 

 

[Giantmetfan07]

He didn't have to retire. Plus any other boss in the universe would have told Laroche this isn't bring your child to work day, we've got a season to prepare for.

 

[elcheato]

Because his child was the reason the White Sox are terrible 

 

[A.E]

LaRoche brought his kid to work when he was with the Nationals and the White Sox let him do last season. I believe the Sox want him more focused on NOT batting .208 again this season and less on making sure his son knows the life of a big leaguer. Plenty of ballplayers have kids and they don't overstep boundaries with having the kids around the clubhouse 24/7. IMO the Sox were paying him $13M....they can tell him to do anything they want that is within reason. 

 

[elcheato]

I think his struggles at the plate might have more to do with him being 36 and having to switch leagues, and less to do with him having his son around him. 

 

[A.E]

I think his struggles at the plate might have more to do with him being 36 and having to switch leagues, and less to do with him having his son around him. 

 
Either way, if someone is cutting you a $13M paycheck, they have the right to tell you to leave the kids at home. 

 

[A.E]

So LaRoche gave a statement today in which he claims the White Sox had no issues with his bringing Drake around the team when he signed with the team. If this is in fact true and the White Sox reneged...well then I definitely side with LaRoche on this one. I will say the fallout on this situation will continue. The White Sox seemed to have taken a calculated risk in order to save themselves $13M of salary; however, they just lost the clubhouse before game 1 of a 162 game season. 

 

[cruzg24]

How does this kid go to school if he is in the clubhouse 24/7? Signs of a bad father to me. I side with the team on this one, its a job and its a $13 million job at that. Its ok to bring him around a little here and there, but this is excessive.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

USA Today reports that a few players on the team complained to management that the kid was around too much. 
 
I think they were OK with it in the past, but some players are probably frustrated with losing and want to focus more on preparing for the season and not running a daycare. 

 

[cruzg24]

Yea USA Today stated that it was 120 games, fuck thats a lot of games to be at.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

https://twitter.com/MattAbbatacola/status/711187404862849024
 
What planet are we on? If a 14 year old kid is a "Leader" in the clubhouse, you've got bigger problems. 

 

[Pugz]

the kid was 14? ok. thats a little much.