Adam LaRoche retires

[Dick Allen]

The kid has his own locker at home and on the road, with his own name on it. I'm on the side of: there was a verbal agreement of some sort. In the business world, your word is good as gold. Companies that break verbal promises don't survive long. He should have never been allowed in in the first place.

Of course there was. He even has his own uniform hanging.

[fathom]

Drake did sign a jersey for him, so I actually would have been more surprised if he didn't have it up in his locker.

[Jose Abreu]

JR= Snoke

 

KW= Kylo Ren

 

 

Where is Rick Hahn?

 

RH= Luke Skywalker (in The Force Awakens)

[Dick Allen]

There are 1700 posts in the thread. And not one of them shows me a source that says his son was to have 100% access, and it was an unflinching agreement, regardless of an ever changing environment.

 

The only evidence I have seen is it being confirmed that this is not a stipulation in his written contract, because it is an absurd request, and if it was that important to him, I'm talking retire from one of the most lucrative and sought after jobs in the world important, it should have been in his contract.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/laroche...te-sox-ventura/

 

Wouldn't the fact the kid had his own locker and uniform be an indication as well?

Edited March 18, 2016 by Dick Allen

[TheTruth05]

Where is Rick Hahn?

 

This is honestly the 2nd most annoying thing about this. You say you're the main guy and one of the bigger stories about the White Sox in years and not a peep. Unreal.

[fathom]

I guess I just don't understand Sale's motivation for taking a stand against KW and/or the Sox as an organization because of this debacle.

 

LaRoche might be a good guy and his friend, but Sale has stated numerous times that he would do anything to win. Having LaRoche on the team would only hinder those chances.

I guess I'm missing something, but bringing back LaRoche at this point doesn't help Sale or the Sox at all in regards to staying competitive and winning.

 

I'm sure a lot of these guys don't like to admit when a player has lost their ability

[fathom]

This is honestly the 2nd most annoying thing about this. You say you're the main guy and one of the bigger stories about the White Sox in years and not a peep. Unreal.

 

Sox mgmt completely botched yesterday.

[The Ginger Kid]

This is honestly the 2nd most annoying thing about this. You say you're the main guy and one of the bigger stories about the White Sox in years and not a peep. Unreal.

Pure speculation: Hahn made the deal for LaRoche and Hahn agreed that his kid could be around as much as he liked. KW is undermining that agreement.

[Y2Jimmy0]

They were off yesterday. I'm assuming that we'll hear from them today. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Reinsdorf either.

[Hatchetman]

Sox mgmt completely botched yesterday.

 

Yesterday? How about most of the past 30 years?

[shakes]

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/laroche...te-sox-ventura/

 

Wouldn't the fact the kid had his own locker and uniform be an indication as well?

LaRoche had a handshake agreement with manager Robin Ventura and general manager Rick Hahn that Drake, who had a locker and uniform, could be part of the clubhouse life. Williams said it was a bit much, more than he expected, and asked LaRoche a week or so ago to “dial it back.”

 

“It was not in his contract,” Williams said.

 

And even with Kenny Williams request they are 100% honoring that agreement. They never told him he could no longer be part of the clubhouse.

 

If this link is your argument, you don't have a leg to stand on.

[shysocks]

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/laroche...te-sox-ventura/

 

Wouldn't the fact the kid had his own locker and uniform be an indication as well?

I interpret that as them doing a nice thing.

 

You actually believe they specifically agreed to 100% access for the kid, something that is really rather unprecedented, to sign Adam LaRoche.

[Dick Allen]

Hahn probably doesn't want to answer the question about the handshake agreement and how a year later KW overruled him.

[Black_Jack29]

Maybe legally, but not morally. JR held a press conference after Horace Grant went back on a verbal agreement. He said he lacked character.

 

Yeah, JR plays hardball when it comes to money. Players also routinely cheat on their wives. Melky tested positive for steroids before joining the Sox. Baseball executives and players aren't known for their moral behavior.

 

The Sox let Drake LaRoche become omnipresent in the clubhouse last year, and then decided to change their policy this year because at least one player complained about it. That doesn't even begin to compare to the depraved crap that goes on every day in MLB. And it's not like they're singling out LaRoche's kid or completely shutting off his access.

 

The fact that LaRoche would throw a temper-tantrum over a clubhouse rule change, allow his teenage kid to be the subject of a media feeding frenzy, and allow snide remarks about the Sox to be published via his company's Twitter account tells me that he's not as super-moralistic as he thinks he is.

 

[iamshack]

This is honestly the 2nd most annoying thing about this. You say you're the main guy and one of the bigger stories about the White Sox in years and not a peep. Unreal.

Well the problem is that it appears several of the White Sox players have gone rogue. If he comes out and says something publicly, there is a good chance it will be undermined by some stupid tweet.

 

Hopefully, he's earning his money by working behind the scenes.

[y2chae]

Not sure why Hahn has to say anything. His boss, Kenny Williams, did all the talking that was necessarily. Maybe Hahn doesn't want to be the bad guy and KW has no problem with being one.

 

I don't understand the narrative that the Sox management did anything wrong.

 

Now you could say if the Sox had a manager with some balls that wasn't a soft personality like Robin, then that could be on management. But with the staff they have, they handled everything as best as they could've.

[Dick Allen]

Yeah, JR plays hardball when it comes to money. Players also routinely cheat on their wives. Melky tested positive for steroids before joining the Sox. Baseball executives and players aren't known for their moral behavior.

 

The Sox let Drake LaRoche become omnipresent in the clubhouse last year, and then decided to change their policy this year because at least one player complained about it. That doesn't even begin to compare to the depraved crap that goes on every day in MLB. And it's not like they're singling out LaRoche's kid or completely shutting off his access.

 

The fact that LaRoche would throw a temper-tantrum over a clubhouse rule change, allow his teenage kid to be the subject of a media feeding frenzy, and allow snide remarks about the Sox to be published via his company's Twitter account tells me that he's not as super-moralistic as he thinks he is.

I missed the fact that LaRoche threw a temper-tantrum. Do you have a link, or are you just making up things and calling them facts?

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

This is honestly the 2nd most annoying thing about this. You say you're the main guy and one of the bigger stories about the White Sox in years and not a peep. Unreal.

What is he supposed to say? He's going to be ridiculed and criticized like crazy with whatever opinion he might have.

 

He can't win. He's going to be painted as the bad guy no matter what.

[shysocks]

I missed the fact that LaRoche threw a temper-tantrum. Do you have a link, or are you just making up things and calling them facts?

Textbook deflection.

[lasttriptotulsa]

I believe 100% that the Sox and LaRoche had an agreement that his boy could be there. Was it in writing? Doubt it. Was it specifically stated he could be there 100% of the time? Doubt it. I'm sure it went something like this.

 

RH: Okay Adam, 2 years $25 million is what we can do. Does that work for you?

AL: Sure the money works out fine. But let me ask, what is your policy on kids in the clubhouse? I won't play in a place that my kid is not welcome.

RH: That's no problem. We have an open clubhouse, feel free to bring him around whenever you like.

AL: Okay you got yourself a deal.

 

I believe that some sort of that type of conversation happened, but I don't think the Sox really understood that LaRoche meant that his kid would be there 100% of the time.

Edited March 18, 2016 by lasttriptotulsa

[Dick Allen]

What is he supposed to say? He's going to be ridiculed and criticized like crazy with whatever opinion he might have.

 

He can't win. He's going to be painted as the bad guy no matter what.

I do agree he can't win, but I don't think he will look like the bad guy. He eventually will have to say something. They probably are working on something for him to say that doesn't make him look like KW's prop.

[caulfield12]

And the thing is, he has no idea what a good major league clubhouse is like. He's been around a country club for six years, so now that they want to dig in a little, he throws a fit.

 

 

Can we really even say that was the case in 2010, with guys like Omar Vizquel around when Sale came up as a rookie?

 

I'd argue we had that laid-back vibe largely because of guys like Buehrle, Konerko, Dye, Thome...and the mix was certainly changed by players like AJ, Peavy and Rios, but things still worked relatively well even into 2012 when you had a new manager replacing one who'd worn out his welcome and double figures in terms of rookie pitchers.

 

Now we're in a situation where Avi Garcia is a "veteran" compared to the rest of the players. There's been a tremendous amount of turnover, and some of the best players like Abreu and Quintana are among the quietest in terms of leadership.

 

 

For all that we've heard from Eaton and Sale in the last two weeks, I don't think we heard that cumulative amount from David Robertson, for example, who was brought in largely to bring a little of that Yankee swagger and veteran leadership with him...ironically, one of the same reasons LaRoche was added to that mix in the first place, along with Cabrera and Duke. It's almost like every possible move last offseason in terms of the clubhouse chemistry backfired even more "off the field" with this Drake issue and also pouting Shark/Cooper feud. Bonifacio and Beckham were busts, Duke has joined the Sale/Eaton chorus and Cabrera acted like a clown for 2-3 months after he and Eaton got off to such terrible starts.

 

It's almost like everything Hahn did this entire offseason basically was to offset all the bad the prior 16 months had wrought.

Edited March 18, 2016 by caulfield12

[Black_Jack29]

I missed the fact that LaRoche threw a temper-tantrum. Do you have a link, or are you just making up things and calling them facts?

 

Quitting your job because your boss won't allow your kid to come to work with you every day qualifies as a temper tantrum.

 

[fathom]

For all that we've heard from Eaton and Sale in the last two weeks, I don't think we head that cumulative amount from David Robertson, for example, who was brought in largely to bring a little of that Yankee swagger and veteran leadership with him...ironically, one of the same reasons LaRoche was added to that mix in the first place, along with Cabrera and Duke. It's almost like every possible move last offseason in terms of the clubhouse chemistry backfired even more "off the field" with this Drake issue and also pouting Shark/Cooper feud. Bonifacio and Beckham were busts, Duke has joined the Sale/Eaton chorus and Cabrera acted like a clown for 2-3 months after he and Eaton got off to such terrible starts.

 

Robertson was supposedly one of the main guys that got the team to not go through with the boycott

 

[Hatchetman]

I believe that some sort of that type of conversation happened, but I don't think the Sox really understood that LaRoche meant that his kid would be there 100% of the time.

 

Yes, but after more than a year of acting like he was 100% part of the clubhouse, they changed the policy.