The agent for injured Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish said Alex Rodriguez's comments that his client was negatively affecting the team's clubhouse were "classless."
The rehabbing Darvish was shown in the Cubs' dugout during Sunday night's game against the Cardinals. Rodriguez accused the pitcher of being a distraction.
"I think it was classless and bordered on unprofessional to take a little nugget of somewhat exaggerated information from one person that maybe he had history with and turning that into a spokesman for the entire team," agent Joel Wolfe told The Athletic.
On Sunday, Rodriguez said on the ESPN telecast, "Matt [Vasgersian], the problem is, and I'm pretty passionate about this, when you have 25 players coming to the stadium, you're there to do one thing and that's win a ball game. You want all the energy, all the focus, all the analytics, all the stretching: What are we going to do today to win a ball game?
"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 ball game."
Rodriguez went on to question Darvish's commitment when struggling Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood was brought up.
"He gets beat down but gets back up," Rodriguez said of Chatwood, who has a league-leading 85 walks in 94 innings. "He takes a punch and gets back up. And you'll never see players complain or whine about a guy like that. They actually back him. So this is an issue that, if you're Cubs Nation, you have to watch the Yu Darvish development because it's not good inside that clubhouse right now."
After signing a six-year, $126 million deal with the Cubs, the 31-year-old Darvish has been a disappointment. He is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts and has been on the disabled list twice. The latest stint has kept him out with right triceps tendinitis since the end of May.
"It doesn't matter what he thinks of me," Darvish said Tuesday. "I still have a lot of respect for A-Rod."
Asked if he gets mad or if the comments made him mad, Darvish replied, "I get mad when my son doesn't brush his teeth or if he's hiding, playing games when he's not supposed to."
Cubs manager Joe Maddon refuted the notion that Darvish has become a distraction or is a source of clubhouse resentment.
"I totally disagree with that," Maddon said when told of Rodriguez's comments after Sunday's game. "Everyone knows what's going on. We know there is an injury there. We support his recovery. Everybody in there knows, and everyone in the coaches' room knows also, throughout the organization. It's unfortunate that it was relayed that way, but it's not true."
Wolfe took it a step further.
"... [A-Rod's] attacking a player who is injured and on the disabled list, which is difficult for any player, especially one who has a big contract and is in his first year [with a new team]. Imagine how difficult it is for Darvish. But then also attacking him for staying with the team?
"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."
Maddon addressed the issue again on Tuesday after hearing the whole Rodriguez commentary from Sunday.
"I was upset," he said. "It seemed plastic. It was rehearsed. It was done for a specific reason. I'm certain that was going on for at least a week because it was definitely not extemporaneous. That's what I got from that entire moment.
"You permit someone into your space and then they walk out of it with that. The line I think about is, 'Don't let anyone contaminate your space and beyond that don't ever dare contaminate ours, as a group."
Cubs executive vice president and general manager Jed Hoyer likened the situation to "a tempest in a teacup."
"A national media member that doesn't spend many days around us certainly doesn't talk for our team, doesn't have a great feel for the team," he said Tuesday. "We know our clubhouse, we know the dynamic, and we know Yu fits into that well."
Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo said Tuesday that he has no problem with Darvish.
"No, not at all," he told Kap & Co. on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. "Yu's been great, and he wants to get back and pitch and we need him, so I think you know hopefully we can add him here hopefully by the end of the year and hopefully he gets healthy. Yu comes in every day, he does his work and it's unfortunate, it's tough when you're hurt, people question you a lot. But I think Yu's doing the best he can to get back and be healthy."
Rizzo said that it's part of the game to be criticized, but players have to be "even-keeled and stay the course."
Rizzo is glad that Darvish is rehabbing with the team.
"Every team is different," he said. "I like having the guys around. You know, when Yu and KB [Kris Bryant], who is such a big part of our team, are not around it's kind of weird, so I like having them around."
Rizzo added that Darvish is "into every game. I see him watching the games and cheering on, being mad if we don't score and happy if we do score. He's one of the guys."
Darvish has slowly started to throw again as he works his way back from this latest setback. With uncertainty surrounding his status, though, the Cubs went out and traded for left-hander Cole Hamels. He'll make his Cubs debut Wednesday, with Chatwood heading to the bullpen.
ESPN's Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.