The Eduardo Rodriguez Situation.

[chasfh]

The more the lack of communication continues, the more it puts the whole marital issues story in doubt. And even if the issue turns out to be marital problems, going dark on the team and ignoring attempts to check in with him for a month or more has to be considered inexcusable. Regardless that the Tigers are not paying him during this time, Rodriguez still has a professional, contractual obligation to the Tigers that he can’t just unilaterally cast aside at his choosing.

Imagine having marital issues that you temporarily had to leave your job to handle, your employer checks in with you after two, three, four weeks, whatever it is, and you complete ignore them. Would you expect your employer to respectfully back off and still hold your job for you, no matter how long it took?

Regardless of the situation Rodriguez is in, In the end, the Tigers have a business to run that affects thousands of other employees, as well as answers to a constituency encompassing an entire state. The team can’t simply put their plans in a holding pattern, held hostage to the whim of a single man who abandoned them suddenly and has gone into radio silence. I respect the idea that family is the most important consideration in the world, and that here in the 21st Century employers are expected to give employees some room to manage major family problems. There’s a reasonable limit to that room, though.

[Tenacious D]

2 hours ago, Hart said:

My guess it the Tigers are okay with that right now.  This year has gone worse than expected on the field and I think the Tigers are probably more interested in saving the money.  

I disagree with this—his not being here has certainly helped contribute to our record this year.  Additionally, we still have half a season left to figure out where the innings are going to come from.  Our young guys may need to be reduced, making it more difficult to manage the innings required to finish a season.  There is zero silver lining to this situation for the Tigers.

[casimir]

4 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

I disagree with this—his not being here has certainly helped contribute to our record this year.  Additionally, we still have half a season left to figure out where the innings are going to come from.  Our young guys may need to be reduced, making it more difficult to manage the innings required to finish a season.  There is zero silver lining to this situation for the Tigers.

I’m not sure his absence has created many more losses than had he been here, at least through this point.  Somehow or another with all of the pitching chaos, the Tigers are basically at league average of runs allowed.  Sure, having Rodriguez around would likely improve those metrics, but by how much?  I think his absence has created more scrambling with the roster and shuffling back and forth than should be expected.

Now, I do think we will see an eventual collapse of that smoke and mirrors in the second half.  Whispers of slowing down some of the work for the younger guys that have stepped up have been getting a bit louder on the broadcasts.  The bullpen pieces should be for sale as they can be valuable to other teams with need.

This season’s demise, as it’s turning out so far, is squarely on the abysmal offense.  The Rodriguez situation might be different at that point, but it’s all speculation as to what’s really going on there.  Obviously as has been mentioned the loss of the draft pick and lost opportunity to sign another starter rather than he.  The same could be said if his arm blew up.  The reasoning behind this situation is just more aggravating at this point because of the noted lack of communication on the player’s side.

[mtutiger]

On 7/16/2022 at 9:42 AM, casimir said:

Now, I do think we will see an eventual collapse of that smoke and mirrors in the second half.  Whispers of slowing down some of the work for the younger guys that have stepped up have been getting a bit louder on the broadcasts.  The bullpen pieces should be for sale as they can be valuable to other teams with need.

The bullpen can probably hold their own without Fulmer and/or Soto/Chafin, but the starting pitching concern is real. 

It would be nice to know if Manning/Wentz were anywhere near being available, as that would help in the whole keeping things afloat bit.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, mtutiger said:

The bullpen can probably hold their own without Fulmer and/or Soto/Chafin, but the starting pitching concern is real. 

It would be nice to know if Manning/Wentz were anywhere near being available, as that would help in the whole keeping things afloat bit.

Manning is only a couple more rehab starts away if he doesn’t self destruct again. 

[pyrotigers]

Not to get political, but all I can say is that even if the problems are 100% real and serious, I, a college graduate who makes "slightly" less than Eduardo would have been fired like two weeks ago. I suspect that's driving a lot of the fan angst about him. 

If the organization isn't flat out lying, his behavior is at the least horribly unprofessional. 

[gkelly]

Methinks there is probably something going on here other than a marital issue.  One could conjecture that there is something illegal going on back in Venezuela

[kdog]

 

[RandyMarsh]

3 minutes ago, kdog said:

 

That's good to hear, not only for the Tigers but it's nice to finally get confirmation that Rodriguez is still alive and well. For better or worse considering the year he has had thus far we're probably stuck with him for the duration of the contract...unless of course he hates it here so much that he will opt out to take far less money somewhere else. 

edit: I just went and double checked to see when the opt out was and it was after next year not this season like I originally thought so I guess if he finishes this year strong and has a really good 2023 he may still have some suitors that offseason which could entice him to opt out. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by RandyMarsh

[mtutiger]

Predictably, some fans on Twitter appear to be vindictive about this situation, but regardless we should be happy that he will come back and contribute this year. They will really need him at that point in the season and they will need him going into next year.

[chasfh]

I wonder how he will be received by the teammates he abandoned in the middle of the season.

[Tigermojo]

Baseball isn't the most important thing in life so they will probably be understanding and welcome him back.

[mtutiger]

AJ keeps emphasizing the kids and that he's getting them ready for school...

I still think whatever the issues going here are, it may not involve him

[mtutiger]

3 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

Baseball isn't the most important thing in life so they will probably be understanding and welcome him back.

I do have issue with the fact that communication apparently went dead between the two sides for a period of time, but at the end of the day, we don't know enough about the situation and should probably reserve judgment accordingly. 

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

AJ keeps emphasizing the kids and that he's getting them ready for school...

I still think whatever the issues going here are, it may not involve him

if mom took a powder, and there isn't any other family in the US that could take a lot of managing, but you might think the team and Ilitch enterprises could have been a lot of help if he had bothered to ask for it. I suppose sometimes people don't have the imagination to realize what they can ask for.

Edited July 23, 2022 by gehringer_2

[Tenacious D]

Welcome back, Eduardo.  Hope everything is OK.

[mtutiger]

11 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

if mom took a powder, and there isn't any other family in the US that could take a lot of managing, but you might think the team and Ilitch enterprises could have been a lot of help if he had bothered to ask for it.

But none of us really know the situation and, frankly, are not on a "need to know" about the situation. That's between the team and the player.

I have my gripes about the purported lack of communication, that isn't good and wouldn't fly for most people, but sort of the assumption that his reasons for being gone aren't legitimate kinda bothers me. We don't have enough information to render a judgment, nor is it really our place to anyway; its between the team and the player.

And when kids are involved, their safety and well-being is paramount. Speculating more than I would like, I don't know the degree to which they factor in, but if it does involve safety and well-being of the kids, it's easy for us on the sidelines to say "Ilitch Enterprises will take care of it"; I'm not sure that would be the natural reaction of a parent in that situation tbh

Edited July 23, 2022 by mtutiger

[gehringer_2]

5 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

But none of us really know the situation and, frankly, are not on a "need to know" about the situation. That's between the team and the player.

I have my gripes about the purported lack of communication, that isn't good and wouldn't fly for most people, but sort of the assumption that his reasons for being gone aren't legitimate kinda bothers me. We don't have enough information to render a judgment, nor is it really our place to anyway; its between the team and the player.

And when kids are involved, their safety and well-being is paramount. Speculating more than I would like, I don't know the degree to which they factor in, but if it does involve safety and well-being of the kids, it's easy for us on the sidelines to say "Ilitch Enterprises will take care of it"; I'm not sure that would be the natural reaction of a parent in that situation tbh

not a matter of punting the situation to the corp, just of availing yourself of various resources that probably would have been made available had he stayed in touch. In general it's often true that people are their worst enemy when it come to not reaching out to people that are willing and able to help them.

[Tenacious D]

38 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

not a matter of punting the situation to the corp, just of availing yourself of various resources that probably would have been made available had he stayed in touch. In general it's often true that people are their worst enemy when it come to not reaching out to people that are willing and able to help them.

In truth, AJ and Al should never have shared or hinted at any issues along the way. To what end did that serve?

[chasfh]

Just because A.J. Hinch was quoted saying the word "kids" doesn't mean that mom took a powder and Rodriguez had to step in to save the family, or that the issue was even the kids or the wife or anyone in the family at all. It's along the range of likelihoods, of course, but concluding such is as much speculation as anything else. After all, if the situation were truly a family emergency, then someone—if not Rodriguez himself because he's too indisposed, then his agent, whose entire job is to represent the player on a professional basis—should have been available to update the team on the situation. That part still smells a little funny, does it not?

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by chasfh

[casimir]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I wonder how he will be received by the teammates he abandoned in the middle of the season.

Depends upon the reason for “abandonment”.

[casimir]

1 hour ago, mtutiger said:

AJ keeps emphasizing the kids and that he's getting them ready for school...

I still think whatever the issues going here are, it may not involve him

It very well could be a situation that wasn’t his fault, but was his problem/opportunity.

The lack of communication that was hinted at by the Tigers is concerning, but we’re on the outside looking in, so what do we know?

[mtutiger]

43 minutes ago, chasfh said:

It's along the range of likelihoods, of course, but concluding such is as much speculation as anything else.

So is sitting there and saying that Eduardo is ducking the terms of his contract because he doesn't want to play here. Or saying he "abandoned the club"

That doesn't stop people from concluding such apparently.

Edited July 23, 2022 by mtutiger

[mtutiger]

23 minutes ago, casimir said:

The lack of communication that was hinted at by the Tigers is concerning, but we’re on the outside looking in, so what do we know?

It's hard to do, but I think the best way to look at this situation is to compartmentalize the PR aspect of the situation (ie. its not good PR to be out of communication with the team, the lack of communication of facts to the media isn't great PR) with the reality that the employer-employee relationship is between the employer-employee.

Collectively as a fanbase, we really aren't entitled to more information about the situation than we have been given to date. That's just the reality, as much as we may dislike it

[Edman85]

If it was a medical emergency or something that would have garnered sympathy, he would have been put on the bereavement/family emergency list and not the restricted list.