Superstar players often dominate headlines with their performances and personas. However, behind the scenes, within the clubhouse, tensions can brew when certain players’ attitudes don’t gel with their teammates. While their talent may be undeniable, their behavior can sometimes wear thin on those who share the field with them day in and day out.
Anthony Rendon
From a 2023 altercation with a fan that resulted in a five-game suspension to numerous stints on the IL, fans and teammates must be getting sick of Rendon. In 2019, Rendon signed a massive 7-year / $245 million contract after several successful seasons with the Washington Nationals that resulted in a World Series title.
Since joining the Angels, Rendon has hit a total of 22 home runs in 4 seasons with the Angels and has not played over 58 games in a season. Rendon’s recent comments about “baseball season being too long” and “baseball never being a top priority” have raised even amongst the fanbase and his teammates alike. It’s hard to see a scenario where a fresh change of scenery for both sides would not be applicable
Trevor Bauer
Trevor Bauer has had his fair share of clashes with various teams along his MLB journey. Bauer was traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Cleveland Indians. It was later discovered that he was not well-liked in the clubhouse with former Arizona teammate Miguel Montero stating “It was tough,” “When you get a guy like that and he thinks he’s got everything figured out, it’s just tough to commence and try to get on the same page with you.
Bauer also left Cleveland on bad terms where an incident occurred when Bauer became frustrated and threw a ball over the center field fence. Cleveland manager Terry Francona who was arriving on the mound to pull Bauer from the game was visibly upset and called the incident “childish” and “unprofessional”. Bauer was promptly dealt to the Cincinnati Reds.
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In 2021, Bauer signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bauer was released after sexual assault allegations arose which were later dismissed. However, two unnamed sources told the L.A. Times that most of the team’s players do not want Bauer under any circumstances.
Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson was a fan favorite in Chicago until the 2023 season. Just before the 2023 All-Star break, Anderson and former teammate Yasmani Grandal got into a verbal altercation in the team’s clubhouse. This resulted in a physical altercation that ended with Grandal slapping Anderson in the face before the two had to be separated by teammates.
However, this was not Anderson’s only physical altercation of 2023 as he was also involved in a fight at second base with Cleveland Guardian’s Jose Ramirez during a regular season matchup which resulted in a suspension. Shocking to no one, Anderson declined their option on Anderson making him a free agent.
Yasiel Puig
Yasiel Puig began his MLB career as a Los Angeles Dodger but he never seemed to fit in with his teammates. There have been multiple instances where Puig would get into altercations with his teammates including Zack Greinke.
In 2014, the team bus stopped downtown to allow rookies undergoing hazing to walk into a pizza place and emerge with food for the veterans. Some Dodgers players, not wanting to wait, skipped off the bus. When the bus was ready to leave, Puig was outside, looking for his luggage inside of the bay underneath the bus. After Puig ignored multiple requests to close the luggage bay, Greinke hopped off the bus, grabbed the suitcase in front of Puig and chucked it into the street.
Other instances include: Puig being reprimanded for showing up to the ballpark 20 minutes late and being engaged in a relationship with the daughter of a minor league coach. Some Dodger teammates have stated Puig is “the worst person I’ve ever seen in this game” and talked about his departure from the team as “addition by subtraction.” Puig has not played in the MLB since 2020 which only solidifies how bad of a teammate Puig is.
Josh Donaldson
Now retired, Donaldson has been labeled as egotistical and toxic which got him released from the New York Yankees and he brought that same attitude to the Milwaukee Brewers. Donaldson acted like an MVP-caliber type of player even though his play would say otherwise. Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez was asked about his first conversation with Donaldson when he joined the Brewers. He walked into the clubhouse and walked straight by, and I was like, ‘Hey,’ with a couple of other words after that.” Rowdy then explained the clubhouse dynamics about how players introduce themselves to each other, and according to him, Donaldson said, “Everyone knows who I am.”
This isn’t Donaldson’s first beef with teammates. Before getting traded to the Yankees, Donaldson had choice words about Gerrit Cole where he stated, “Is it a coincidence that Gerrit Cole’s spin rate numbers went down after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games?”
Fernando Tatis Jr.
While he was gracing the covering of video games and was the arguably the face of the MLB,2022 was a year to forget for Fernando Tatis Jr. The Padres were heavily involved in the playoff picture when Tatis would be suspended for 80 games for testing positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid. Tatis’s decision not only let the city down but also his teammates after he’d already hurt his reputation with teammates after suffering a careless motorcycle injury prior to the season
One teammate in particular was pitcher Mike Clevinger who said “This is the second time we’ve been disappointed with him,” “You hope he grows up and learns from this and learns that it’s about more than just him right now.”
Justin Verlander
The 2023 New York Mets on paper looked to be a very formidable team with the acquisitions of Kodai Senga, David Robertson, and Justin Verlander. However, the season would quickly fall apart and a New York Post report came out that Verlander was a “diva” who was detached from his Mets and complained about the team’s analytics department.
This irked Verlander’s fellow pitching teammate Max Scherzer. Verlander was later dealt in the season back to the Houston Astros while Max Scherzer was dealt to the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Josh Hader
The Padres had very high hopes for their 2023 season but did not meet expectations and failed to make the playoffs. There were many reasons the Padres fell short but with their playoff hopes still on the line, Josh Hader’s refusal to enter a pivotal game against the Giants for a possible four-out save didn’t help the cause.
The Padres acquired Hader at the 2022 Trade Deadline knowing his reluctance to pitch multiple innings and to pitch three days in a row. When asked for his reasoning behind not making himself available for the four-out save against the Giants or really, at any point down the stretch, Hader said: “It’s the situation that we were in.” “Are we in the playoff race?” asked Hader. Hader signed a 5 year / $95 million dollar contract with the Houston Astros in the offseason.
Bryce Harper
While Harper’s current teammates in Philadelphia seem to love his leadership and fiery personality, that has not always been the case for his previous teammates. In 2015, when Harper was a member of the Nationals, a heated altercation occurred between himself and pitcher Jonathan Papelbon over Harper’s decision to not run out a fly ball. A verbal altercation occurred which turned physical before being separated by teammates.
Papelbon has since gone on record saying “When I watch Bryce Harper right now I see a new-and-improved leader that I did not see when I played.” “If I was to see him at a field today, I’d go up and say hey, chat with him, catch up with him, see how everything is, for sure. I don’t have that kind of animosity with him anymore, no.”
BJ Upton
Upton had a successful major league career that spanned over 12 MLB seasons. Highly touted prospect Upton was drafted second overall as a shortstop in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by Tampa Bay out of Greenbrier Christian Academy. He was widely considered a very polished prospect with a love for the game.
However, in 2010, Upton’s love for the game was put to the test when he and teammate Evan Longoria got into an altercation in the dugout over Upton’s lackadaisical hustle which turned a double into a triple for Arizona Diamondback Rusty Ryal.
