caulfield12

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 17, 2016 -> 08:51 PM) I don't really care how you were raised. If you don't understand what's wrong with that situation, you need to open your eyes to the world around you. Do middle school students no longer take showers for gym class or for after-school sports activities? I don't see the big issue with a 14 year old (assuming he's an 8th or 9th grader)...it probably has more to do with LaRoche's overt Christianity and players self-censoring their comments around him, but obviously that happened for roughly 4 or 5 years without any problems in Washington and last year in Chicago.

Maybe this is a better question for Rock Raines or another "insider." Is it fair to say that LaRoche, Sale, Eaton, Shark (last year), Danks, Duke and perhaps Lawrie are part of one group or clique? Where is Abreu? Is he the leader of the Hispanic players or more of a Konerko/Dye/Thome "lead by example" type? Where does Todd Frazier fit in? Rodon? Robertson? Quintana? Pretty obviously, there's a new group emerging with Rollins, Avila, Jackson, Navarro...(and god knows about Latos). Along with the lethargic/passive clubhouse environment, ONE positive development would be having two veteran catchers in Avila/Navarro who are stronger, more natural leaders than Tyler Flowers. Of course, they have to stay healthy and be productive or they will end up on the outside looking in eventually... And why has Rick Hahn been so quiet and "behind the scenes" this week? Deliberate strategy on the part of the front office to deflect all the attention to KW, like Ozzie used to do all the time by creating his firestorms?

Here's the thing...if the White Sox did a better job of drafting and developing players, promoting them together a level at a time and developing that trust/chemistry/camaraderie first at the minor league level, this kind of thing wouldn't be happening. There's no "White Sox Way" because 75-80% of the roster is a mixture of players from different organizations. (Let it be noted that it worked beautifully ONCE, in 2005...but hasn't since.) We have a clear dysfunction at the top with Hahn/KW not being on the same page. We have created such a "relaxed/comfortable/lethargic" clubhouse that it took outsiders to finally break it up...likely in the form of respected vets like Rollins, Frazier, Avila and Austin Jackson. We likely have a split or polarized clubhouse at the moment...not 100% on racial or position player/pitcher lines, but it's clear that KW's gambit could easily backfire and be used as the excuse for not coming out of the gate hot in April. There's an increasing likelihood that Sale will be even more vocal in his criticism of KW (and implicitly JR) if this thing is allowed to fester. KW seems to be "turning the other cheek" and trying to spin it as a positive for the moment, but surely one of the few positives of this week is that he didn't allow his temper to flare out of control as Sale has a tendency to do...that could have been a complete disaster.

When's the last time an MLB team actually boycotted a spring training or regular season game for an "internal policy" reason? Wonder if the location of the game had anything to do with it...with a "home" game seemingly easier to blow off than one where they would have been the visitors and been even more liable for lost revenues to the other team? Funny thing reading it, made me think back to the 1919 World Series with the Reds...nearly the whole team banding against Comiskey. And it's spandex, haha. Although the actor who played "Lou Brown" in that movie has since died, if I remember correctly. Not sure about "Rachel."

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2016/03/17/someth...partner=ya5nbcs The most logical/reasonable article yet written on this whole situation.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Mar 17, 2016 -> 08:02 AM) As an employment lawyer, I'll weigh in: If he was promised that privilege, he would have the right to file a grievance over its breach to have it fulfilled. But the labor law maxim: "Work now, grieve later" applies. And even if that unwritten clause were insanely judged to be a "material" term or condition of employment, the law wouldn't allow him to unilaterally decide not to perform, but still collect pay for performing. How long do the White Sox have to wait for an "official" retirement letter from LaRoche? Do they have to allow him to come back if he "unretires"? If they make a move for another DH and then LaRoche tries to come back again two weeks from now, does it go to a grievance or meeting with the MLB Players Union? They can't really stop or block him from changing his mind again, can they? How long does LaRoche have to reconsider if the paperwork hasn't been filed with the league office?

This story won't go away simply because it has too many compelling storylines for non-sports fans. Someone supposedly willing to walk away from $13 million, an amount of money only 3-5% of Americans will earn in their lifetime. Workplace rules and regulations...everyone can identify with bosses in family businesses who had their kids around the workplace too frequently. "FamilyFirst" and the dramatic battle of "good vs. evil" if you care to follow that to its logical conclusion... Bryce Harper. Conflicting ideas of what it means to be a "good or highly-involved" parent. Entitlement of modern-day athletes. It's hard to imagine "The View" not having a round table discussion and late night talk shows not using it as comedy material. Trump, Clinton and Obama should be providing their own soundbites in the coming days. The "self-righteousness" of those with strong Christian beliefs (in terms of a world viewpoint) vs. modern-day/secular America.

"FamilyFirst" >>> The Will To Win

"FamilyFirst" >>> The Will To Win

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...&ocid=yahoo That's one interesting ploy to bring the team together, KW.

Not to mention, if he's on the field of play participating in drills...there's an additional liability issue for the club, as there's a very real possibility of him getting injured by a thrown or batted ball. I'd like to think if his son ended up with a fractured skull that they wouldn't sue the team and would take responsibility, but an increasing number of fans are suing over this issue in recent years. It's not a TOP FIVE reason for Drake to be limited, but it's yet another concern the front office shouldn't have to worry about.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columni...316-column.html John Kass trying to add some levity and "life lessons" to this story.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 10:20 PM) I was being sarcastic when I said that. It's not like LaRoche's beliefs weren't known before he signed here Also if it was for those reasons, I'm confident in saying the whole team would have walked out Except it might be just ONE part of it...which we'll never know, of course. Partly the reaction of players new to the team this year, partly about KW forcing the issue because of LaRoche's under-performance or perhaps Adam (theoretically) ignoring advice earlier in spring training to focus more on this season and his rehab, the increasing pressure on everyone to win this year and especially get off on the right foot out of the gate in April. The most obvious point here is Hahn had apparently been trying all offseason to sell him to the highest bidder for quarters on the dollar.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 10:16 PM) Especially when that agreement isn't built into his contract. Yes, but it's not unlike the Rockies trading CarGo after telling Parra he would be around this season...or the Marlins throwing a fire sale after the Buehrle's committed to being there in Miami for 4 seasons. They're not breaking an actual contract, but it's not the best way to go about conducting business if you become known for going back on your promises. Obviously, the counterargument is that the reputation of the White Sox is still good enough to attract the likes of Rollins, Latos, Austin Jackson, etc. What would be really interesting is to see how many other members of the team are in the Eaton/LaRoche/Kaplan camp...if it's at least 1/3rd of the team, not a good thing.

Fathom is right. At some point, religious discrimination or "persecution" is going to come into this eventually...whether it's an accusation via Twitter or a legal argument.

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 09:10 PM) A lawsuit over a gentleman's agreement would be laughed out of court. That said, if Hahn or Kenny did promise LaRoche extra access for his kid, that definitely changes things. We need to bring in illinilaw. If LaRoche was promised that privilege, everyone in the Sox organization (especially the players) were aware of this fact, as well as some of his ex-teammates like Harper or Boyer...would the White Sox be covered legally because there wasn't an explicit promise written into the contract? At any rate, it still makes the White Sox look bad if that was the case. They shouldn't have offered that "open clubhouse" policy in the first place unless they were willing to deal with the consequences. KW comes off here as more of a bully who's hiding behind not wanting to set a precedent for other players (in the future) when that's exactly what they did in the first place apparently.

If it was in writing (unlikely, but possible) or a verbal/gentleman's agreement, you can be certain that a lawsuit might be coming. Even in a "he said/she said" scenario between Hahn/KW, LaRoche and LaRoche's agent, it's not going to turn out well to look like they are going back on their promise basically because of his level of play deteriorating so badly. It will be termed a "hostile work environment" by LaRoche's lawyer. All we're missing now are comments from the Trump and Clinton camps wading in.

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 08:34 PM) Yes, but it's not all about LaRoche and his kid, which is something that LaRoche doesn't seem to understand. It's about his kid's omnipresence negatively affecting the rest of the clubhouse. Except that's been rebutted to an extent by some of the Dan Hayes article...what we're left with is the likelihood it was an issue with "some" players...which was enough to push it up the chain to Hahn and KW. Obviously there were players who weren't bothered as much, such as Eaton. For example, it didn't affect the Nationals when they made the playoffs. One would logically conclude it being brought to the forefront by one of our new veteran acquisitions who felt that having kids around 24/7 wasn't appropriate and not standard operating procedure in a majority of big league clubhouses.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 08:18 PM) Defending a friend, nothing wrong with that. But why does he have to do it on social media? Can't people pick up their cell phone and actually talk to someone personally to express their support, or at least send them a text message? What possible POSITIVE result will occur in this situation? That LaRoche will get the idea that enough in the clubhouse have his back that he should push the issue publicly and "unretire," putting the White Sox (and the clubhouse) into a very uncomfortable situation?

While they're at on this issue of team rules/regulations, they might want to think about addressing all the issues arising from social media, especially Twitter...whether it's the Oscars comment, or now, Eaton not taking sides (exactly), but it has the potential to split the clubhouse a bit before the season even starts, and you definitely don't want that happening when all the vibes were so positive. I suppose it's also a bit of the we, as players....can support our fellow teammate and Ventura (those inside the clubhouse)...but still put the blame on KW and make him out to be the bad guy. But that's a very thin line to walk on. You would think they would have learned from the Guillen Family and their use of social media and Twitter and Joe Cowley to retaliate against KW?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 07:25 PM) I like this post. If it was only so cut-and-dried. When you start giving ranges or parameters of 50-100% of the time, 0-50% of the time...there SHOULD be room for negotiation. It seems both sides are being stubborn...LaRoche, because he got away with it last year probably, and KW, because it's seemingly easiest for him to be the "bad cop" compared to Ventura/Hahn. Ideally, it would have been handled first by Ventura...unless Ventura's suggestions didn't seem to get through to LaRoche and/or LaRoche felt he had been promised his son could be with him when he signed and he felt that deal was being reneged on by KW/Hahn.

Veteran pitcher Blaine Boyer, a former Met and friend of LaRoche’s, told Rosenthal, “I honestly think this is between good and evil. I know which side Adam lives on.” I think there are a number of things going on here. One, LaRoche's apparently open religious beliefs, which, in general, tend to be polarizing in nearly every locker room. You can see it in some of the quotes, like the one above. Two, it was fine and cool for LaRoche to do whatever he wanted last year when he was coming off a strong season and had just signed a big, new contract. As some have pointed out, if it was Sale's kid/s, or Abreu's, etc., it wouldn't be handled in the same way. It feels like something that was accepted last year or in the past is suddenly an issue because of non-performance or loss of stature in the clubhouse...and also the influx of new veteran players certainly having their opinions as outsiders. The unfortunate part of is this is that Ventura, Hahn and KW weren't on the same page from the very beginning...of course, for all we know, Hahn told LaRoche and his agent it would be fine when he originally signed, and then circumstances changed, and at least 50% of it has to be LaRoche's performance level. In a way, it feels a bit like the same game of chicken that Orlando Cabrera and KW played after 2008...you can just imagine it not ending very well from a public relations standpoint. As fans and growing up around sports, we all can understand the MANY reasons it's not appropriate to have teenagers around adults, unless it's something like every Sunday/Family Day, you typically have a day game and a different atmosphere than a night game or especially on the road. It should have been addressed in the individual meetings or conference calls with the players in the days right after the season ended. Certainly, KW/Hahn/Ventura all knew there was an issue, or at least a potential issue...at that time.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 15, 2016 -> 08:31 PM) At this point I wouldn't trade Avi for Bruce.Need another good fielding OF and Bruce does not qualify. Just trade in one tall, white, mid- 30's, DH/1B of French descent for another. Monsieur Morneau votre table est prête. Jeff Francouer, haha?

Well, at least for today, the solution was Eaton at DH, but that really doesn't help our outfield defense much when you have Garcia and Cabrera both playing. At some point they're going to have to decide which is the best option, Eaton in LF and Cabrera DHing with Garcia in RF, trying to move Cabrera to RF...then there's the options in the form of Sands and Shuck, but that's not ideal, either. The most LIKELY solution would be Jay Bruce, because of the LH preference, but then you still have to put him or Garcia or Cabrera in RF...which couldn't be any worse than last year, I guess. Is Dominic Brown still available? Nope...looks like he's with the Jays, who still have a surplus. Michael Saunders? Travis Snider would have been another possibility, but the Royals control his rights for now. There are plenty of LH options, but not many are what you would consider "power" hitters or middle of the line-up guys.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/blogs/mlb-big-...-182055837.html Yahoo Sox season preview/profile...progress, we're now 17th with 6 AL teams behind us