Just 12 months ago, Adam Eaton was a top five prospect in the Diamondbacks organization, and he looked like he would be a long-term solution for the club in center field. After an injury-plagued 2013, Eaton was traded to the White Sox as part of a three-team trade that netted the Diamondbacks Mark Trumbo.
In what is seemingly becoming a tradition with the Diamondbacks, Eaton was anonymously bashed by a former teammate on his way out the door as "selfish". Of course. Here's the story from the Arizona Republic.
An anonymous player told Arizona Sports 620 that losing Eaton was “addition by subtraction” and that the 25-year-old was a “selfish me-me type player.” azcentral sports’ Nick Piecoro was told that Eaton “irked people in the clubhouse” and his “attitude had a tendency to wear on people.”
The 25-year old Eaton played just 66 games in the majors in 2013, hitting .252/.314/.360 with three home runs and five stolen bases. He missed nearly all of the first half following a sprained UCL in his left elbow.
The allegations of selfishness caught Eaton offguard.
“I haven’t heard anything about any of it,” Eaton said. “I didn’t have any indication. I felt like I left on pretty good terms. I felt like I had a pretty good relationship with most of the guys and the PR department and a lot of the front office people. After the trade they called me and kind of wished me good luck.”
Eaton also offered an apology to those he offended with his alleged attitude problems.
“If I did anything to offend anybody, I sincerely apologize,” Eaton said. “I don’t want that to be the lasting impression that I leave. I want the impression to be that I played hard and the team went a different direction and that’s the reason for it. I don’t like that that has been spread. I want to try and squash that. I don’t like that idea of me out there.”
As I mentioned in the opening of this article, bashing players who get traded is nothing new for the Diamondbacks. Last February, catcher Miguel Montero went all-in on Trevor Bauer, saying that, "he never wanted to listen". When Justin Upton was dealt to Atlanta last January, an anonymous player said that Upton, "didn't play with a high level of energy".
Apparently, Adam Eaton played with *too much* energy for the Diamondbacks. I'm not sure what he could have done to appease the clubhouse gods in the desert – if he's cool, calm, and collected, he doesn't have enough passion. If he's loud and brash, he's a clubhouse distraction that rubs people the wrong way. I'm glad we've got that all cleared up now.
