Joe Maddon and Alex Rodriguez may have cleared the air regarding the Yu Darvish issue, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some fire before that. In fact, one reporter says the two had a “heated argument” over the matter.
During ESPN’s telecast of “Sunday Night Baseball” between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals two weeks ago, Rodriguez suggested that Darvish had lost respect within the team’s clubhouse over the way he was handling his injury. Darvish sarcastically responded to Rodriguez over the matter, while Maddon took things more personally.
ESPN was in Chicago on Sunday night to cover the Cubs’ game against the Washington Nationals, which gave Maddon and Rodriguez a chance to clear the air. Though Maddon told the media all was good and it was time to move on, there apparently was more to it than that.
The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney says the two had a “heated argument” during a pre-production meeting.
“I responded very open and candid about my comments. We had a great conversation about that. That’s pretty much where I come from. I think it’s hard to argue against that. I would respect anybody having the same opinion about protecting their brood,” Maddon said.
Rodriguez similarly told reporters that their conversation was “positive.” He also said he and Maddon planned to get together for drinks.
Maybe they came to the realization that Rodriguez is going to do what he can to drive interest to the game through his reporting and commentary, while Maddon is going to stand by his players no matter what. That has to be comforting for some of the Cubs’ players.
