Neither Adam LaRoche Nor the White Sox Are Wrong

In an odd case of game against family, neither the White Sox nor Adam LaRoche are wrong in their standpoint.

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On Tuesday, first baseman Adam LaRoche, a former Gold Glover and Silver Slugger coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, surprisingly announced he would step away from the game. At 36 years old and following a tough season, it could have easily been seen as performance based. But instead, the news came out later that LaRoche was stepping away and leaving $13 million on the table because Chicago White Sox general manager Ken Williams didn’t want LaRoche’s 14-year-old son, Drake, to be in the team’s clubhouse as much anymore.

LaRoche bringing his son Drake into his team’s clubhouse isn’t a new thing. Drake has been following his father into the locker room for a few years, and it is sort of a family tradition, passed down through the generations. Adam’s father was major league pitcher Dave LaRoche, who pitched 14 years in the big leagues and took his own sons, Adam and his brother Andy LaRoche, through the clubhouse experience, although not as extensively as Drake’s.

When LaRoche signed with the White Sox before the 2015 season, he arranged the deal with Sox manager Robin Ventura. While the act was embraced at first, it must have begun to rub some people the wrong way.

While the majority of the argument here is whether the White Sox are the bad guys for wanting to bar a 14-year-old from the locker room, or whether LaRoche is a bad guy for leaving the team because of this, maybe it’s possible that neither party is wrong. They are both well within their rights to make the choice they did, and neither side is bad, or wrong, or stupid.

From the White Sox point of view, having a 14-year-old kid in the locker room can be seen as a distraction. There’s a lot that goes on in a big league clubhouse that a kid Drake’s age probably shouldn’t be involved in, and although Adam did do his best to monitor where Drake went in the clubhouse, kids can be slippery. When these grown men talk about their exploits the night before or on the last road trip, it might be best that an early teenager doesn’t hear about it. Sure, he’s going to have to learn about that soon enough, but maybe a Major League clubhouse isn’t the proper place for a teaching session.

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The White Sox are basically covering their butts here, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The clubhouse is, after all, basically their office, and while it’s a lot more lax than the traditional office setting, it still has to be treated as a place of business.

From LaRoche’s standpoint, it can be seen as admirable that he’d step away from the game in order to continue his priorities as a father. The grind of being a Major Leaguer can take its toll on a family relationship, as a big leaguer has to be on the road for weeks at a time and doesn’t get to see their family as much as they’d like. LaRoche is choosing his family over the game, and there’s nothing wrong with that either.

LaRoche has made over $50 million in his career, so he’s done pretty well for himself. He doesn’t need that $13 million he’s walking away from. What he needs, or at least feels he needs, is to continue this close relationship with his son. Stepping away from the game may be best for that relationship. Now Adam can spend more time with his family without the worry of how it will be perceived by teammates.

There’s no wrong party here. The White Sox want to treat their place of business as such, and LaRoche wants to get that time with his family. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with either side’s point of view.

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Bryce Harper, LaRoche’s former teammate with the Washington Nationals who never has an issue speaking his mind, stuck up for LaRoche via Twitter.

Good for you Roche! Nothing like father and son in the clubhouse..It's a FAMILY game #FamilyFirst
— Bryce Harper (@bryceharper3) March 16, 2016

As Ken Williams told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, everyone loves Drake (not the rapper) in the Sox clubhouse, but the focus has to be on baseball and improving a team that has underperformed in recent years. They aren’t the bad guys for wanting the focus to be on baseball. LaRoche isn’t a bad guy for wanting to focus on being a father. They’ve both done the right thing in this case.

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