Exactly. LaRoche retires and walks away from $13M because he was told that his kid should be in the clubhouse less than 50% of the time, and the rest of the team refuses to go play baseball and earn their multi-million dollar contracts. It's just embarrassing. I have no idea how managers put up with this crap.

 

It's not that hard to envision:

 

1) LaRoche is a well-respected veteran in the clubhouse

2) The players like have his son around

3) Big, bad KW decides to change a policy that was agreed upon with LaRoche when he signed

4) LaRoche, choosing family first, leaves 13 million on the table

5) Players support LaRoche over management, and want to boycott a game to show their support

So you arent on his side then. His side is to leave the game of baseball because of it.

No it's not.

I would hope if my dad had $13 million coming to him in the next 6 months he wouldn't walk away from it because his boss didn't want to see me so much. But he did. Who are we to judge?

 

Yes, how awful of us to judge.

 

Walking away form $13M isn't a big deal. Athletes retire with money on the table all of the time. But doing so in protest because your employer won't let your kid hang out with you at work every freaking day is just ridiculously immature.

 

Kaplan said last night it was Hahn and Ventura who said it was fine last year

 

Kaplan is a blowhard

Kaplan is a blowhard

 

You know I love a fellow Cubs homer

I don't care if it was fine last year, or even if there was a handshake agreement when he signed. Things change. If Lawrie/Latos/Frazier/Avila/Navarro or whoever came in and had a problem with it, then they have a right to make changes to the arrangement.

I'm not really sure I agree that Ventura should have handled it. It sounds like some of the players are upset with KW over the decision, and I'd rather they were angry with Kenny than with Robin.

 

 

Beat me to it. This is how I see it.

 

 

If the story about the team possibly boycotting the game is true, then I'm glad it was KW and not Robin that handled the situation. You really don't want the players and the manager on opposing sides of a controversy.

 

Strongly disagree with these and all the other posts like this. If the manager can't handle tough issues about personnel, then they aren't fit for the job. End of story, for me. That goes for the private discussions, and informing the rest of the team in the right way. No different in any other field of work. Managers sometimes need to escalate matters in any field of work, but if it takes someone two levels up to deal with a culture or rules issue at the staff level, then the that's very bad.

 

Think this through to it's conclusion. KW handles it instead of Ventura, how do the players look at Ventura now? They don't trust him. They don't believe he's strong enough to handle the clubhouse. That ends badly.

 

 

Yes, how awful of us to judge.

 

Walking away form $13M isn't a big deal. Athletes retire with money on the table all of the time. But doing so in protest because your employer won't let your kid hang out with you at work every freaking day is just ridiculously immature.

Or he just wants to be with his family. His dad said he wouldn't have signed with the White Sox had they not told him having his kid around would be a problem. In the articles I linked he even mentioned there are a lot of teams that ban kids.

 

I

You know I love a fellow Cubs homer

 

He has been on the wrong side of Twitter arguments a few times in the last month. He freaked out about the Lovie hire and refused to acknowledge that the Cubs did the same thing with Maddon

http://espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/insid...tmostworkplaces

 

Can't read much unless you are a insider but Olney agrees with sox. Also video from pardon the interruption in article.

So the game they almost boycotted was yesterday's and not Tuesday's (which took place after the meeting with LaRoche). This is a little more concerning. Also pretty pathetic that JR, KW and Hahn are going to meet next week to discuss clubhouse access for management. What a ridiculous situation.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14993803...mp;sf22718540=1

I don't care if it was fine last year, or even if there was a handshake agreement when he signed. Things change. If Lawrie/Latos/Frazier/Avila/Navarro or whoever came in and had a problem with it, then they have a right to make changes to the arrangement.

 

If LaRoche was verbally promised that his kid could be there every day last winter (and I have serious doubts about that), then I have some sympathy for him. Reneging on a gentleman's agreement is unbecoming. And, assuming that this agreement actually did happen, I can understand why LaRoche would be upset.

 

But I generally agree with you. If it's not written into the contract, Sox management can't justify the kid's omnipresence when other players complain. And that HAS to be what happened... there's no way that Kenny would screw up clubhouse chemistry on his own, for personal reasons. And it's not like LaRoche's kid was banned from the clubhouse or anything. It sounded like him being there once a week would've been OK.

 

So the game they almost boycotted was yesterday's and not Tuesday's (which took place after the meeting with LaRoche). This is a little more concerning. Also pretty pathetic that JR, KW and Hahn are going to meet next week to discuss clubhouse access for management. What a ridiculous situation.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14993803...mp;sf22718540=1

Is this saying they want KW's access limited? That would be cool. Just not every day KW. Maybe not even half the games. There is a big area between 0 and 50%.

No it's not.

LOL, yes it is. Being on his side means supporting his actions, which means retiring instead of talking, or working it out or demanding a trade or ANY other option.

Or he just wants to be with his family. His dad said he wouldn't have signed with the White Sox had they not told him having his kid around would be a problem. In the articles I linked he even mentioned there are a lot of teams that ban kids.

 

If it was THAT important to him, he should've had that stipulation placed into his contract. And, again, it's not like Kenny banned his kid. He just wanted him around less often. It sounded like he would've been fine with once a week.

 

Furthermore, if LaRoche doesn't feel like playing without his kid being there every moment of every day, it sounds like he's more focused on spending time with his kid than doing his job. And if that's the case, it's probably best that he parts ways with the Sox.

 

Been watching First Take for about four years now and this is the absolute first time that anything White Sox related has been talked about on the show in that time. The Cubs are locked and loaded for a trip to the World Series. The White Sox? #drakegate

 

 

So embarrassing.

Have you noticed that Kaplan did a complete about face? There are 2 or 3 videos on CSN, in which he is very vehemently critical of La Roche, and supportive of

management. I wonder what caused the change of view?

Have you noticed that Kaplan did a complete about face? There are 2 or 3 videos on CSN, in which he is very vehemently critical of La Roche, and supportive of

management. I wonder what caused the change of view?

 

Threat of a libel suit?

 

Have you noticed that Kaplan did a complete about face? There are 2 or 3 videos on CSN, in which he is very vehemently critical of La Roche, and supportive of

management. I wonder what caused the change of view?

 

Those were before he talked to someone in the LaRoche camp

Have you noticed that Kaplan did a complete about face? There are 2 or 3 videos on CSN, in which he is very vehemently critical of La Roche, and supportive of

management. I wonder what caused the change of view?

David Kaplan ‏@thekapman 12h12 hours ago

@BrianBilek_ I hadn't spoken to a phenomenal source yet. Now I have.

I'm not sure why anyone respects Kaplan's opinions.

 

 

The guy is a tool and a Cubs homer to boot.

I'm not sure why anyone respects Kaplan's opinions.

 

 

The guy is a tool and a Cubs homer to boot.

 

Seems he talked to someone with the last name of LaRoche, as the story matches what Dave LaRoche said.

LOL, yes it is. Being on his side means supporting his actions, which means retiring instead of talking, or working it out or demanding a trade or ANY other option.

No. Again, I don't think he should have retired, but I think KW was wrong. He did KW a favor by hanging them up. He wants to be with his family. If the White Sox said his kid would have the access he had, even though it's not in his contract, a deal is a deal. Ask JR. There was 2 weeks to go. That's about 1 week of the kid more than KW's new threshold. Then the issue would have been over with. They should have waited and told the players about the new conditions next offseason.

 

The one thing that is common between Drake LaRoche and if KW would have done the same with Oney, is the s*** storm it caused. KW can't go back on it now, but I wonder if he has the same conversions if he knew all this would happen.

https://twitter.com/RealCJ10/status/710244156925419522

 

Chipper Jones Verified account

‏@RealCJ10

 

Big ups to my boy @e3laroche for standing up for his beliefs. We play a GAME! Good for u brother. #FamilyFirst

 

https://twitter.com/BrianBilek_/status/710273163498811393

 

Brian Bilek

‏@BrianBilek_

 

Brian Bilek Retweeted Chipper Jones

 

3 marriages & a knocked up Hooters waitress in 2 decades. #FamilyFirst...except when you're eating wings & get horny

 

Looks like LaRoche and company still going at it:

 

E3 Meat Company ‏@E3Meat 1h1 hour ago

Baseball is a game started by a father & son playing catch! @e3laroche #familyfirst

 

He really needs to make a decision and then stop trying to win this argument in the media.

Edited March 17, 201610 yr by fathom