Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas responded to his former-teammate Jazz Chisholm’s explosive accusations in a Tuesday appearance on the “Chris Rose Rotation” podcast, and I ain’t buying it one bit.
Earlier in March, Chisholm — the Miami Marlins star shortstop-turned-centerfielder — seemed to accuse Rojas of saying negative things about him behind his back to their manager, intentionally destroying his custom cleats, and generally being unwelcoming and unkind to him during their time together in Miami.
While he never mentioned Rojas by name directly, he alluded to club veterans and his team captain mistreating him multiple times. Rojas was the team’s captain during Chisholm’s first Miami years.
Chisholm felt so ostracized by his treatment that he basically avoided his teammates for the majority of the first three years of his career, he recounted in a March 19 episode of “The Pivot.”
“My first three years in the big leagues, I didn’t even practice,” Chisholm said.
“Why didn’t you practice?” host Ryan Clark asked him.
“What do you mean why didn’t … bro, like, I’m not gonna be around you guys, bro. Like, I don’t like y’all like that. Y’all don’t like me. I don’t like ya’ll,” Chisholm replied, referring to his teammates.
Rojas, who spent eight of the first nine years of his career in Miami before they traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023, told Talkin’ Baseball’s Chris Rose that he was bothered by the comments.
“Whatever you want to say about me as a player, you can have that opinion,” Rojas told Rose. “But you saying that I’m a bad person when you don’t even know me, that’s kind of what bothers me.”
He also lamented the fact that Chisholm aired out private clubhouse business, and explained his treatment of Jazz as a way of keeping him accountable.
“When you come to a place and you get to a new place, there are people there that have been there before you. There’s rules in place, and someone is going to keep you accountable,” he told Rose.
Sorry, Miggy, but it sounds like what you were doing was a lot more than just keeping him accountable.
I don’t blame Rojas, as captain, for having conversations with his manager about the young guys on the team. That’s standard. But one story Chisholm recounted on “The Pivot” seems to indicate he was going a little further than plain accountability.
Chisholm recalled how one unnamed veteran destroyed his custom cleats, a pair the then-rookie Chisholm spent time and money crafting to perfection. (RELATED: MLB Owners Prove They’re Sick Of Hard-Negotiating Agent-To-The-Stars, Hand Him Worst Off-Season Yet)
“Within the first week someone cut up … one of my vets cut up my cleats, poured milk in my cleats and threw them in the trash and said those shoes are ugly bro get some new ones.”
MIAMI, FLORIDA – AUGUST 02: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #2 and Miguel Rojas #19 of the Miami Marlins celebrate after defeating the New York Mets by score of 6-3 at loanDepot park on August 02, 2021 in Miami, Florida. Mark Brown/Getty Images
MIAMI, FL – JUNE 26: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #2 of the Miami Marlins celebrates with Miguel Rojas #19 after defeating the Washington Nationals at loanDepot park on June 26, 2021 in Miami, Florida. Eric Espada/Getty Images
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 18: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #2 (R) of the Miami Marlins celebrates with teammate Miguel Rojas #19 after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 18, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
This is straight garbage, man. I know we talk often about the softening of American manhood, and there’s a ton of truth to that. But there’s a fine line between trying to keep people accountable by helping them become the best versions of themselves and straight-up bullying.
In 2008 the Philadelphia Phillies pulled one of the greatest (and in my opinion completely harmless) pranks of all time when the entire team convinced pitcher Kyle Kendrick he had been traded to Japan.
Now, even years later, Kendrick didn’t look back on the incident with fondness, but it didn’t seem to be mean-spirited. It didn’t destroy his personal property or his sense of belonging on his team.
Rojas can hide behind the ideals of tradition and honor all he wants. But if you ask me, he took it way too far. Maybe he should’ve spent more time in the batting cage than playing clubhouse cop.
If he did maybe he would have actually made an All-Star team, or won a playoff game in his Marlins career. But he didn’t. He was too busy pouring milk into a rookie’s homemade shoes. Shame.