Adam LaRoche and his son

I tend to agree with Mike Greenberg this morning on this: It's a story without any villains.

 

From what I understand, clubhouse "culture" was a problem last year, and they are trying to change it this year. (I'm always skeptical about how much this matters.) Maybe the new guys like Frazier and Lawrie didn't like the kid being around. I don't know. The timing is definitely strange. Like I said earlier, the chatter was that Chris Sale was driving some of this. Who knows what set him off, but when he talks, management listens, obviously.

 

It seems like LaRoche is kind of a square peg in a round hole - he's a very dedicated dad and doesn't want to miss a minute. At the same time, he's in a profession that is not conducive to that, due to the travel and what amount to night shifts.

Does the kid go on the road, too?

 

Bringing your kid to work 81 days a year plus spring training is more than "doesn't want to miss a minute".

 

I don't feel like I have sufficient understanding of the underlying dynamics here to venture opinion but, as others have said, his kid would not be an issue if he hit 30 bombs last season.

 

Maybe the kid became an insufferable teenager in the offseason.

 

And a happy and functioning clubhouse would fall under that premise, no?

 

No. The club president should mind his own business relative to the clubhouse. The best functioning clubhouses are, and should be, regulated by players.