On March 15, 2016, LaRoche said that he intended to "step away from baseball." He said that he would honor a request from teammates to reconsider his retirement for a day or two before making an official announcement. On the next day, it was revealed that LaRoche's reason for a possible retirement was that the White Sox had placed a restriction on his 14-year-old son entering the team's clubhouse every day. By retiring, LaRoche walked away from a $13 million contract. The following day, teammates were close to boycotting their spring training game until manager Robin Ventura stepped in and told the players to play. White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams defended his request by stating "name one job in the country where you can bring your child to work every day."
