Adam LaRoche put family first. It will cost him $13 million.
The Chicago White Sox slugger retired on Wednesday after team officials instructed him to limit the time his 14-year-old son spends in the clubhouse. Drake LaRoche became a ubiquitous presence accompanying his designated hitter dad.
“All I’m asking you to do with regard to bringing your kid to the ballpark is dial it back,” White Sox President Ken Williams reports he told LaRoche. “I don’t think he should be here 100 percent of the time. And he has been here 100 percent, every day, in the clubhouse. I said that I don’t even think he should be here 50 percent of the time.”
Williams told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports that everyone in the White Sox organization likes the teenager and that he did not seek an outright prohibition on him joining his dad at work. He contends he just did not want the father-son act to continue as an everyday occurrence.
Rather than separate from his son, LaRoche opted for a permanent separation from playing.
LaRoche struggled last season, flirting with the Mendoza line at .207 and belting just 12 home runs. In 12 major league seasons, he hit 255 home runs and batted .260.