He retired and gave up his $13MM salary because the White Sox told him not to bring his 14-year old son into the clubhouse every day. Great dad or selfish teammate?

He realized he Sucked ass last year and was looking for an excuse to retire and it be someone elses fault

Interesting that nobody really cared enough to say something about it until right before the start of this season.

I tend to agree with you all that baseball shouldn't be any different than any other job, so the kid shouldn't be there 24/7. But it does seem strange to me that from everything I've read, past and present players are overwhelmingly in favor of LaRoche.

I grew tired of him in Atlanta. I don't know him personally or what he is like in the clubhouse, but he came off as lazy and arrogant.

Does the kid not go to school?

Idiot. It's a major business they are running, not a daycare. not unlike in the office, kids running around would be a distraction. There is a time and place.

A few players may speak up on his behalf, but I'll guarantee most of that clubhouse is quietly fistpumping.

Maybe he feels guilty about stealing 13 million per year

White Sox Players Considered Boycott to Support Adam LaRoche

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Sources told Ravech that White Sox manager Robin Ventura intervened and persuaded the players, who were united in support of LaRoche, to play the game against theMilwaukee Brewers.

There likely will be a meeting in the coming days among owner Jerry Reinsdorf, executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn to go over ground rules for clubhouse access for those in upper management. Sources said there is a division between those in the front office and Ventura and his players regarding clubhouse access.

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I think anyone that has been around a MLB clubhouse knows its not just another job, its not just another "office."

There's all sorts of people roaming around the tunnels, including families. Many ballparks have "family rooms" and staff devoted to families and other guests of players located right next to the locker room. Its a job with tough hours and travel schedules, and MLB families will probably all tell you it can be a major strain on them and the family unit. There is some glitz, some glam, some fortune, but we all know (often through tragedy) that isn't enough for happiness for many celebrities.

The White Sox president said as much, and says he'll continue to encourage families to be around. This was about LaRoche's son being there "too much."

For Adam LaRoche, his son is 14 and I would venture a guess that he's in school until mid-afternoon during parts of the season at which point LaRoche has to head to the ballpark where he'll be until late in the evening. LaRoche is out of town often. And at other times, he just has an awkward schedule as far as doing things with family.

My point is not to say the White Sox's front office is wrong in cracking down on how often Drake LaRoche was around, but to say that Adam LaRoche has made lots of money and if seeing his family often is important enough to him to make this decision, then that's fine. Its not anyone's place to call him an idiot for doing it. I'm sure part of this is pride on his part, probably upset for getting singled out.

There are lots of people in many professions that will switch jobs to have a better work-family life balance, LaRoche is just fortunate enough where he can straight up retire because he doesn't need the income.

Let me be clear in that I'm calling him an idiot for thinking it was OK to do and getting butthurt when the team asked to him to stop, not for quitting to spend time with his son. I'll never judge someone for making the decision to choose family over career.

There's also a great amount of blame to be placed on the White Sox for letting it get to this point. It should have never been allowed.

If I'm a player I'm pissed that I've got to be away from my family for so long during this grind of a season while this guy brings his son in everyday. The kid had his own locker for crying out loud. That's just not right to the other players who A) spent their entire lives working to get a locker in a major league clubhouse and B) don't get to haul their families around with them 24/7.

Again, it's ludicrous that this was going on and LaRoche is an idiot if he thought it was no big deal and wouldn't be an issue at some point.

As with many things in life, moderation is the key. This kid was there 100% of the time. That is nuts. I have a hard time putting this on the White Sox management for trying to be flexible and accommodating, then ultimately coming to the realization that it's gone too far and asking that it be dialed back (not eliminated)

It would certainly put a division in the locker room. Baseball culture includes a lot of vulgarity, nakedness, and partying. If I'm on the team and I can't "let it all hang out" in the locker room because there's a kid in there EVERY DAY I'm going to be frustrated.

That said, I have no problem taking his kid in there from time to time. But every day is quite excessive.

Chris Sale is certainly super pissed. Supposedly LaRoche had contract terms that allowed his son to be there. They even gave his kid a locker last year.

Apparently in light of this, the Rangers discussed their policy on player's kids being around, and it pretty much sounded like guys could bring them around whenever (and did), as long as they were respectful and out of the clubhouse 90 min before game time. Prince, Beltre, Choo, and Lewis all talked about their kids being around quite a bit.

I understand your reasoning ag07, the poster after you called him an idiot for giving up the money and career.

Is there evidence that LaRoche was being treated special? Or did his son just happen to be the one who showed up the most?

Guys on Houston sports radio were talking about this today and they said in covering Biggio he always had his kids around especially in the summer. They would shag balls, take cuts before BP, and hangout in the dugout during practice but they never once saw them in the tunnel or the clubhouse.

This is kinda interesting to me. On one hand I think kids should naturally be around baseball and their parents. On the the other, I'm not sure they should be around a lockerroom immediately before or after a game. I'm not sure why you would want them to be. And the locker for the kid is a bit much, but hey, its in a contract that both parties agreed to.

The more interesting thing to me is the perceived power struggle going on here. I think Williams sensed he might be losing a bit of power over the players, and this was his way of showing them who's boss. Now the power struggle within the organization is in full force and also be played out in the media. Not sure you want that. One thing for sure is this organization is a dumpster fire right now and will be a long season with their neighbors to the north having renewed success.

I think it's an overblown story.

White sox have a reasonable rule

Laroche does not want to follow it & has the financial ability to not play.

Supposedly LaRoche was told it was OK before he signed and the Sox have changed their tune all of a sudden.

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Supposedly LaRoche was told it was OK before he signed and the Sox have changed their tune all of a sudden.

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This is my only problem with it.

Here is LaRoche's statement:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sof75p

I just don't quite buy the demonization he's pulling. I can see it being a situation where they said okay while thinkkng it wouldn't be to the extreme that it ended up being. Then after a while and likely some quiet complaints by players and coaches, management is left to do the dirty work. They ask for him to dial it way back (not entirely eliminate), then he goes ape**** and the whole thing goes south. And he's going to tell a version of the story that paints himself in the most favorable light and the sox as the evil kid-haters.

All the while, no players are going to speak up for the management side because they don't want to be painted with the evil anti-family hater brush, even though they may be happy management stepped up.

Happens all the time when managing people - you give an inch, someone takes a mile, and then it gets messy.

Its not anti-family that I'm wondering about here, its just that out of the zoo that is the clubhouse and tunnels, a kid that is there all the time and probably something of another clubhouse staff member, is it really something a club Vice President should have gotten involved with, knowing what a big deal this was to LaRoche and in the face of the players that, at least some, apparently are on LaRoche's side?

I think about A&M baseball and how coach's children were bat boys, ball boys, and around the dugout the entirety of games. At that point, I feel like its not a distraction anymore and the kid has just about taken on a spot as a staff member doing a job like anyone else down there. It would be easy for those on the outside to point to it as an easy target, but for those actually on the team and in clubhouse, was it actually a problem?

I get both sides. All I know for sure is that this is bizarre, to say the least.

My guess is the club vp gets stuck doing it when people in the clubhouse want something done but don't want to divide the clubhouse by touching what is clearly a hotbutton issue.

Either that or they identified a brilliant way to dump $13 million worth of dead weight.

I think they figured out how to dump some dead weight and in the meantime give themselves a black eye. It is very normal for kids to be in and around the clubhouse ALOT.

Did the kid travel with the team?

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Supposedly LaRoche was told it was OK before he signed and the Sox have changed their tune all of a sudden.

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This is my only problem with it.

Here is LaRoche's statement:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sof75p

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If his statement is accurate, I am now a fan of his.

I get that baseball is a game. I get that it is for children and adults. But there is a lot of money involved which makes it a business, a job, a profession and a career too.

The employees follow the rules of the employer. Don't like it? Leave.

He didn't like it so he left. I don't have an issue with either of them! Wish more people would do the same instead of whining, bithcing, moaning, complaining, tweeting, facebooking etc about it.

If there was an agreement on this issue and it was this important to LaRoche, it would be in writing, and he would have nothing to worry about regarding his salary.

A few more details have come out about this, apparently LaRoche and his wife have been quoted before that they aren't that big of believers in school and prefer that the kid be in the locker room every day. That sheds a bit of light on the deal.

He's homeschooled.

And apparently the White Sox players are taking this issue seriously. Chris Sale now hangs two La Roche jerseys in the locker room. One for Adam and one for Drake. Adam Eaton went as far to say that Drake was a leader in the locker room.

This situation has gotten really weird and the more details that come out make it sound like locker room is completely ****ed.

Being irrelevant for a decade will do that.

Obviously some players aren't ok with him in the locker room every day but can't say anything public because the backlash would be atrocious