Yu Darvish's agent calls A-Rod 'classless' and 'unprofessional' for criticizing Darvish
After a seamless transition to broadcasting, controversy finally found Alex Rodriguez again. The former New York Yankees star is under attack from Yu Darvish’s agent after A-Rod criticized the pitcher during Sunday Night Baseball.
What did Alex Rodriguez say about Yu Darvish during Sunday Night Baseball?
Rodriguez called out how Darvish has handled his rehab this season. Rodriguez’s full comments during the inning have been transcribed by Awful Announcing.
Here’s are the quotes that has Darvish’s agent steaming:
“So [Darvish will] let the team know when he’s ready, which, let me just tell you what that means to a clubhouse. You lose respect quickly. And my concern for him – because he’s a great young talent – is it may take two or three or four years and you may never get that back. The other side of that is Chatwood, Tyler, who’s actually struggled, but has gone out there, he’s posted.”
After doubling down on Darvish potentially creating issues in the clubhouse, A-Rod added:
“And when you have a guy that signs an enormous contract and he’s sitting down – and you walk in the training room, and he’s got two trainers working on him, you go into the video room and you have a guy looking at video – he should be in Arizona somewhere getting treated. But don’t get in the way of 25 players going after one mission – to win a ballgame.”
How did Yu Darvish’s agent respond to those quotes by A-Rod?
He was not happy. Darvish’s agent, Joel Wolfe, decided to go scorched earth on A-Rod to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
“If this story had come from a credible journalist, we might have shown some concern,” said Joel Wolfe, Darvish’s agent and the co-managing executive of the Wasserman agency’s baseball division. “But it came from A-Rod, so we’re paying it little attention.”
Wolfe then called A-Rod’s comments “classless” and “unprofessional” before dropping the hammer on Rodriguez.
“During A-Rod’s absurd comments, the video shows that Darvish was right there on the top step in the dugout cheering on his teammates, which is what you want from somebody like that. He wasn’t hiding out in Mesa at the spring-training complex or back home like A-Rod was when he was suspended.”
How did the Cubs respond to A-Rod’s comments on Yu Darvish?
Cubs manager Joe Maddon wasn’t as harsh as Wolfe, but he made it clear he wasn’t a fan of Rodriguez’s comments. Following the game, Maddon told reporters he totally disagreed with A-Rod’s assessment of the situation.
Joe Maddon on Arod’s comments that there are guys in the clubhouse questioning Darvish’s rehab: “I totally disagree with that.”
— Ryan Davis (@RyanQDavis) July 30, 2018
Where do the Cubs and Yu Darvish go from here?
Given that the people closest to the situation insist there’s no issue, we shouldn’t expect anything scandalous between Darvish and the Cubs moving forward. He’ll continue his rehab. The team will continue to be happy with him sticking around while he gets healthy.
Darvish is under contract with the team through 2023, so it’s in the team’s interest — and Darvish’s best interest — to make sure he’s 100 percent healthy next time he takes the mound.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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