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Adam LaRoche retired over dispute with White Sox over son?

Jason Rowan
| March 16, 2016

adam-laroche

Adam LaRoche’s abrupt retirement announcement on Tuesday surprised the baseball world, mostly because he was leaving $13 million on the table.

The alleged reasons behind LaRoche’s sudden decision to retire also added a layer of intrigue, as it was reported by numerous outlets his decision primarily was based upon an “undisclosed personal issue.”

The 36-year-old slugger seemed to cryptically allude to the aforementioned issue in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.

And now FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the main reason behind LaRoche electing to hang it up in such a sudden manner stems from how his teenage son Drake recently has been banned from the clubhouse by White Sox Executive Vice President Kenny Williams.

Given that the children of ballplayers frequently are spotted hanging out in the clubhouse, it would seem that something seriously must have been amiss for such a stance to be taken by Williams, not to mention how it led to LaRoche deciding to retire.

But looking a little deeper it appears Drake’s presence may have been starting to become an issue.

As noted by Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra, a report last year from the Chicago Tribune may have shed some light on how constant was Drake’s presence and perhaps might have possibly rubbed some in the organization the wrong way.

Players’ children are often seen around ballparks, but few major-league kids have an arrangement like Drake’s, which also includes occasional road trips, and LaRoche said not every organization would embrace it like the Sox have.

Since Rosenthal’s tweet, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has since reported that Williams indicated players’ children have not been banned from the clubhouse.

While that may indeed be the case, it’s certainly plausible that whatever Williams did say to LaRoche, it may have played at least a minor role in the ballplayer’s decision to retire.