Black_Jack29

Wow, intelligent base-running and effective bunting. Didn't see much of that last season.

I didn't want the Sox to deal for Ethier, but that sucks to hear. Hope he's able to play later this summer.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 21, 2016 -> 08:25 AM) there are several.... but the main one is royce clayton. Yep. I'd give Nick Swisher an honorable mention as well. Given that the Sox turned Navarro into Jose Valentin, I'd say that LaRoche may be the Sox's worst free agent signing in my lifetime.

Really nice over-the-shoulder catch by Sands in LF.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 21, 2016 -> 03:43 PM) For those keeping score at home, Carlos Sanchez is playing 3B with Tyler Saladino at SS. I keep reading that Sanchez' arm isn't strong enough to play SS, but it appears strong enough to play 3B today.

Erik Johnson optioned to Charlotte today, sayeth the telecast.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 21, 2016 -> 12:01 PM) His OPS was not much higher than LaRoche's in 2015, and really he isn't a guy who you would project to be much better. I disagree. LaRoche is 36 and had been fighting hand and back injuries during his tenure with the Sox. Optimistically, LaRoche probably would've put up a .700-ish OPS this season, and he probably would've been on the DL a couple of times this season. Loney has averaged a mid-.700s OPS vs. RHP over the past three years. He has no power, but he gets on base and doesn't strike out much. That may not be the skill set that one desires in a DH, but it's not bad considering that all they need is an improvement over LaRoche and Avi. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for the Sox to do better than Loney, but that's going to be tough at this point. It's the end of March and the Sox don't have a farm system full of can't-miss prospects. Unless they're willing to give up Anderson or Fulmer, guys like CarGo and Reddick are pipe dreams.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 21, 2016 -> 10:24 AM) Loney sucks. I'd rather go with what they have than acquire Loney. Loney is a decent contact hitter against RHP. A Loney/Avi platoon at DH would be a step up from Avi platooning with an in-house option.

This is exactly why the complaint(s) was/were anonymous.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Mar 20, 2016 -> 01:39 PM) I don't agree with JR about no one lying. Someone lied. Yep. This is the second time that he's issued a gag order. Let's see if his knucklehead employees can keep their mouths shut around reporters this time.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 20, 2016 -> 09:35 AM) It was a supposition by Posnanski... http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2016/03/20/it-fin...-drake-laroche/ More concerning, however, is that the Sale-Eaton contingent may now feel as though their teammates lied to them. Either by voicing disingenuous support for the LaRoches while they secretly complained or by keeping silent and allowing that impression to be created. There will be some tempted to play the role of savvy cynic and say “eh, Sale and Eaton probably knew others complained and were just being dramatic.” I think that’s pretty unlikely. To say the things they said and to act in the manner they did — remember, they were talking about boycotting a game over this — while knowing that others in the clubhouse didn’t agree with them would itself be an act of clubhouse dissension. They’d be publicly rubbing their teammates’ noses in the matter and passive-aggressively calling them out. That’s not something players would do lightly or easily. No, I believe they took the stance that they did because they truly believed they were in an us (players) against him (Ken Williams) situation. I believe that they believed that no uniformed White Sox personnel had an issue with Drake LaRoche. Remember, when Ken Williams privately suggested that to Sale, Sale accused him of lying. They have now found out they were wrong. Moreover, I presume that they will soon find out who, exactly, complained about Drake LaRoche. They will find out whose complaints set the ball in motion for the retirement of one of their favorite teammates and whose silence led them to, quite frankly, take some pretty ridiculous public positions on the matter. And then they’ll have to spend the next six and a half months working, traveling and living with them. That ought to be fun. Sale and Eaton did this to themselves, so I don't see how they can be angry at their teammates for their assumptions that Kenny lied to them. As far as having to co-exist at work with people that they disagree with or don't like, welcome to the real world.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 20, 2016 -> 07:45 AM) If Dad told him to stay out of the way per the request, and he was on the mound and not "dialing it back". My understanding is that the "dialing it back" had to do with Drake being around the team, period. In that case, it's all on dad.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 10:36 AM) KW isn't one of those, and we don't know what KW said. But we also don't know what the original verbal agreement was. There are a lot of assumptions going around including your stance about the agreement since nobody really knows what was agreed on. It's worth pointing out that, in LaRoche's statement, he said that if there was a problem with his son being in the clubhouse, he "would address it." That strongly implies that he was flexible with Drake's access. Kenny told him that there was a problem and LaRoche apparently didn't comply with the requested change. I don't like the way that Kenny handled this, but it's pretty clear to me that LaRoche wanted to be around his kid more than he wanted to play professional baseball. So I don't care all that much about his hurt feelings.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 09:19 AM) I still can't believe this argument being made by the players and some on here. Do people really think if Theo had to tell Arrieta something that Arrieta would flat out blow off his request? George Steinbrenner forced Johnny Damon to shave and get haircuts.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 09:58 AM) Willie Robertson ‏@williebosshog Mar 17 Been bringing my kid to work since she was 14. Worked out well. #FamilyFirst @e3laroche Yeah, it worked out well because you're the CEO and make the rules, Willie. Do all of your employees bring their kids to work every day as well?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 19, 2016 -> 08:29 AM) "We lost a leader in Drake LaRoche " -Adam Eaton on the Score What a joke. I don't even want to root for these guys anymore. Drake is at home with his Dad. Eaton makes it sound like he died from cancer The lack of maturity among some of the players is embarrassing. If these guys stumble out of the gate again this spring, I'll be spending more time biking and less time watching games.

My guess is that this incident blows over soon and Sale's recent comments change nothing. Sale will get traded when the Sox decide they're rebuilding. And I don't see that happening until at least next July.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 04:33 PM) Well, that and because he never once mentioned his son battling an illness during his first year with the Sox and that would have been an understandable excuse in my book. He went out, tried to do his job while getting left out to dry by Ozzie, got booed and came back the next year with an All-Star season. I didn't know that Dunn's son was ill during that first year. That explains a lot.

QUOTE (59th street @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 04:19 PM) That is true but he was only here for one season and he was terrible the entire year, pretty easy to "keep your head down" during that kind of performance. I believe his action this spring is much more reflective of who he really is. I think that LaRoche is a decent guy, but his quitting over something as trivial as clubhouse access for children and the sniping from his "company's" Twitter account lead me to believe that he's not too far removed from the typical pro athlete numbskullery.

Stoney with the don't-slide-into-first-base tip again

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 03:54 PM) Glad to see Robin got the memo on the silence from the team. I don't know, in Robin's case it could be constructive. He's a player's coach who is generally well-liked by his team. Unlike Kenny, Robin's one of them. When somebody like that makes a curt statement about the behavior coming out of the clubhouse, it may make them think more seriously about the way they're acting.

QUOTE (bjm676 @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 03:49 PM) Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 2h2 hours ago Robin Ventura said 14yo Drake La Roche is "probably more mature than most of the guys in there." Go Robin! They needed to hear that.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 01:53 PM) If Bryant is starting, how many HR does he hit off Danks today? 2 or 3? Not in the starting lineup today. Even considering that this isn't the Cubs' opening day lineup, it's nice to see Danks throw a few scoreless innings for a change.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 03:41 PM) Honestly, I don't understand how it can be LaRoche. Its been widely reported he was given permission to bring his son to the clubhouse, potentially as part of the pitch to come here. He than made the decision that being with his son was more important than playing. Yes, he was directly involved in this whole piece, but nowhere did he do anything wrong. You can whine about him potentially leaking or telling people a story, but Sale / Eaton speaking there piece has nothing to do with LaRoche and it seems everything to do with how Kenny directed this. I might not agree with LaRoche's beliefs on how to raise a kid, but his wanting to be with his kid is certainly better than the alternative (being a dead beat dad) and it was entirely his right to make the decision he did. On the flipside, if KW unilaterally did this, while he's the president, I don't really think it is within his right. It may technically be, but I agree that doing this all on his own would be bad form. At the very least, it would be much better to have solicited the opinions of players and coaches before making a decision (and maybe he did do that... who knows).

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 03:38 PM) Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 37s38 seconds ago Adam LaRoche's retirement paperwork has been filed.