Adam LaRoche

Here’s the latest on Adam LaRoche’s sudden retirement, which stemmed from a dispute between LaRoche and executive vice president Ken Williams over the regular presence of LaRoche’s son in the team’s clubhouse.

• The dispute between various members of the White Sox organization over LaRoche’s son is “one of the most bizarre Spring Training stories in memory,” Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller writes. One anonymous White Sox player tells Miller that he feels obligated to fight for the LaRoches because of his perception that LaRoche was lied to by the organization, and because the organization’s decision regarding LaRoche’s son caused divisions in the clubhouse. Miller also, however, notes that not everyone with the team agreed that LaRoche’s son should have such a continuous presence in the White Sox’ locker room.
• LaRoche’s son was with the team for about 120 games in 2015, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today. No players or team staffers complained to LaRoche about his son’s presence, but several of them did speak to team management. In response to the complaints, Williams reportedly asked LaRoche to limit his son’s presence in the locker room, but LaRoche kept bringing his son to work each day. Williams then “lost it” and revoked LaRoche’s son’s clubhouse access, then changed his mind went back to requesting to LaRoche that he only bring his son to work about half the time.
• If LaRoche had performed better in Chicago, there would have been no issues regarding his son hanging around the team, Jesse Spector of the Sporting News writes. It’s possible some players or staffers would have complained to management about LaRoche’s son if LaRoche had figured to do be a key player for the Sox in 2016, Spector writes. But management never would have done anything about it. Now, LaRoche’s retirement allows them to save $13MM and move Avisail Garcia to the DH spot, improving their defense.
• Outfielder Adam Eaton and pitcher Mat Latos say the players are ready to put the controversy behind them, reports Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. “Let’s get all of the information out there,” says Eaton. “Let’s let it ride, and not forget about it, but say, ’Hey, there’s where we are.'” Eaton, the White Sox’ player rep, had previously said that he had been in touch with the union about a potential grievance. Latos, meanwhile, says he is used to being around kids at work, thanks to his former manager Dusty Baker and Baker’s famous son Darren. Latos adds, though, that he feels it’s time to move on. “Everybody is talking about it, and it’s kind of blown up to where it has become a distraction,” he says.”We have to focus on baseball, period, and kind of let this die down.”

We already rounded up some of the fallout yesterday regarding the complicated Adam LaRoche retirement situation — see here and here — but there’s continued intrigue surrounding the White Sox. Here’s the latest:

• Union chief Tony Clark has “indicated” that a grievance could be considered on LaRoche’s behalf, according to Andy McCullough, reporting for the Chicago Tribune. Clark says he hasn’t spoken with LaRoche and suggested that he is waiting for more facts to emerge before deciding on a course of action. “The question becomes when a player makes a decision to retire, that means one thing,” Clark said. “If there is a discipline involved, that means something different. We are 24 hours removed from everything that you are aware of. And I can suggest to you that we are likely aware of a little bit more, but aren’t in a position to suggest what tomorrow is going to look like, as a result of what happened yesterday.”
• Adam Eaton, the club’s union player rep, said he has been in contact with the MLBPA regarding a possible grievance, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports (links to Twitter). Per Eaton, LaRoche told him that his son’s locker room presence was a part of his agreement upon joining the organiation. He added that players hope to meet with Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf in the coming days.
• There are reports suggesting that some White Sox players did complain to higher-ups about the presence of children in the locker room — see this tweet from CBSChicago.com’s Dan Bernstein — but third baseman Todd Frazier contests that fact in a comment to Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com (via Twitter).
• Ace Chris Sale, meanwhile, says that his concern is that president Kenny Williams has given the club varying stories about where complaints came from — players, coaches, or Reinsdorf — per Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). The star lefty had very strong words for Williams, telling reporters that he and his teammates were “bold-faced lied to” by Williams, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
• As for Williams, he declined to comment on the matter further. He tells Levine that it’s “time for us to get to work.” (Twitter link.) Buster Olney of ESPN.com rounded up anonymous reactions from some of Williams’s peers, providing some interesting insight from other organizations.

Adam LaRoche’s decision to step away from the game of baseball (and a $13MM salary) earlier this week surprised most of the baseball world and left his teammates stunned. The subsequent reports that LaRoche’s decision stemmed from a request made by White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams that LaRoche’s 14-year-old son, Drake, not be allowed in the clubhouse on a daily basis anymore in 2016 (as he has been for the past five seasons of Adam’s career with the Nationals and White Sox) added quite a few wrinkles to the story. That news has triggered reactions from teammates and the media alike in addition to yielding several additionally newsworthy items, which we’ll compile here…

• White Sox players have emphatically sided with LaRoche in the matter, so much so that the team considered boycotting yesterday’s Spring Training game, reports ESPN’s Karl Ravech. Manager Robin Ventura intervened and convinced the players to take the field, but the clubhouse is none too pleased with the front office’s decision on the matter. Per Ravech, there’s a division between the clubhouse (including the players and Ventura) and the front office.
• CSN Chicago’s David Kaplan reports a number of elements on the decision, including the fact that allowing Drake to be in the clubhouse every day was actually a requirement for LaRoche to even sign with the Sox in the first place (Twitter link). According to Kaplan (link), LaRoche would not have signed with Chicago had he not been promised full access for his son, and both Ventura and GM Rick Hahn agreed to the situation before LaRoche was signed (link). Furthermore, Kaplan hears that White Sox players had a “very heated” meeting with management wherein high-profile players, including Chris Sale, “really went after” Williams. Kaplan describes the meeting as “very contentious,” noting that the Sox clubhouse think highly of LaRoche and his son.
• Yahoo’s Jeff Passan hears the same, tweeting that Sale “absolutely lit up” Williams over the situation. In a full column, Passan echoes the sentiment that Drake was welcome in the clubhouse and goes on to opine that, while the White Sox’ request was not necessarily misplaced, it was poorly timed. Implementing this new philosophy midway through Spring Training should never have happened, Passan writes, suggesting instead that it should’ve been handled before camp opened. Moreover, Passan tweets that the Sox roster feels that Williams isn’t around the clubhouse enough to understand the dynamics.
• Outfielder Adam Eaton spoke to CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes about the matter yesterday, firmly voicing his support for LaRoche and Drake. “We wanted Drake in the clubhouse, and we were backing Adam in every aspect,” said Eaton. “…He chose family over allowing his son to be in the clubhouse and we respect what he had to do. … We can say we enjoyed Drake LaRoche in the clubhouse and everything he brought in the clubhouse. He brought perspective. He helped out and around, he wasn’t a burden by any stretch of the imagination.” Eaton says that both Adam and Drake are “probably the most respected people” he’s shared a clubhouse with, noting that Drake often helped by cleaning players’ cleats and assisting in drills. “Never a trouble in the clubhouse,” Eaton repeated.
• USA Today’s Bob Nightengale contests that the Sox were in the right to make the request of LaRoche. Williams’ main point in speaking to Nightengale is that there is nary a business anywhere else in the country where a parent can bring his 14-year-old child to work every day. The longtime Chicago exec made it clear that he thinks highly of Drake, and the decision was in no way related to his conduct in the clubhouse. “Simply, you have to make a decision from the management perspective or an organization at large,” said Williams. “We went into this season saying to ourselves, ‘We are going to commit and focus and not leave any stone unturned.'” He also notes that he didn’t ask that Drake be completely absent, but rather simply dial back the frequency with which his son spent days in the clubhouse. Nightengale opines that it would be a shame for such a respected player to see his career end in this way, writing that LaRoche should “rip up his retirement papers” and return to the club on Friday.
• The issue of children in clubhouses is not unique to the White Sox organization, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, examining some of the policies and measures recently implemented by the Red Sox pertaining to this exact manner. Rosenthal also provides further details on Sale’s words for Williams (links to Twitter), adding that Sale told Williams to get out of the clubhouse and stay out.
• In a second column, Rosenthal reports that neither Hahn nor Ventura agrees with Williams’ approach. Asked why he made the decision and broke the news to LaRoche himself (as opposed to Hahn or Ventura), Williams told Rosenthal: “This had the potential to piss people off and I’m the best one to absorb the heat. Period.” A pair of sources also told Rosenthal that the agreement mentioned by Kaplan, in which Drake was permitted to be in the clubhouse on a daily basis, “might only have been verbal” as opposed to anything that was put in writing.

At least some of the impetus behind Adam LaRoche’s decision to retire appears to be the White Sox’ request that he bring his son into the clubhouse less frequently, Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghSports.com reports (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that LaRoche retired because his son wouldn’t be allowed in the clubhouse at all, but club president Kenny Williams clarified to Rosenthal that he only requested LaRoche reduce the frequency of the practice.

Meanwhile, Williams also spoke to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin (Twitter links), leaving Merkin with the impression that LaRoche has signed his retirement papers but that they’ve yet to be filed with the league. Indeed, we heard yesterday that the veteran first baseman/DH was going to wait at least a few days before formalizing the decision.

In his comments to Merkin, Williams made clear that the request was “not even close to being personal,” noting that he respects LaRoche as a man and as a father. The executive also emphasized in his statement to Rosenthal that his request was not due to any direct concerns about LaRoche’s son. He explained that “there has been no policy change with regards to allowance of kids in the clubhouse, on the field, the back fields during spring training.”

Instead, per Williams, he told LaRoche: “Listen, our focus, our interest, our desire this year is to make sure we give ourselves every opportunity to focus on a daily basis on getting better. All I’m asking you to do with regard to bringing your kid to the ballpark is dial it back.” Williams went on to tell Rosenthal: “We all think his kid is a great young man. I just felt it should not be every day, that’s all. You tell me, where in this country can you bring your child to work every day?”

Needless to say, the subject is a difficult one, and it is certainly possible to see both the team’s viewpoint and to understand LaRoche’s own decision. He has long enjoyed the chance to spend time with his son at the park, especially during Spring Training, dating back to his time with the Nationals. Notably, of course, LaRoche has not yet commented on the matter himself, and it would be wise to withhold judgment until the full story is told.

Things get more complicated when weighing the nuanced interests at play for the White Sox. LaRoche struggled mightily last year and has been limited by back issues this spring. And he’s due to earn $13MM — more than a tenth of the club’s overall payroll. While there’s still reason to believe that LaRoche can contribute at the major league level, he also doesn’t represent an appealing value at that price tag.

Speculation has already turned to what the club might do to replace the left-handed lineup production, and how it might re-allocate the dollars that were destined for LaRoche. Williams touched upon the topic in his comments to Merkin (Twitter link), saying: “We think internally we’ve got an interesting opportunity to rotate the DH position.” Among the internal options, presumably, are defensively-limited outfielders Melky Cabrera and Avisail Garcia. The club will look at its own players first, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (via Twitter), but has also begun to consider external replacements.