Dylan Buell/Getty Images Two weeks after ESPN analyst Alex Rodriguez ripped Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish during a broadcast, he and Cubs manager Joe Maddon cleared the air. "Alex and I had a really nice discussion," Maddon said before his team's Sunday night game against the Washington Nationals, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. "I felt good about it. Hopefully he felt equally the same." "We had a brief, very positive conversation," Rodriguez added. The controversy began on July 29, when the Cubs faced the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball. During the broadcast, Rodriguez claimed Darvish was creating a rift in the clubhouse with his slow return from a triceps injury that has sidelined him since May. "I totally disagree with that," Maddon said at the time, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. "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." Darvish's agent, Joel Wolfe, called Rodriguez's comments "classless" and said they "bordered on unprofessional," per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Rodriguez didn't take back his comments, but he at least acknowledged the complaints from the Cubs' perspective. Video Play Button Videos you might like "We don't always have to agree on everything," the 22-year MLB veteran said, "But I do have a lot of respect for Joe and the Cubs organization...and that hasn't changed."<doc-sep>Joe Maddon told Alex Rodriguez to leave his players alone. The Cubs manager and the former Yankee turned ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” analyst discussed Rodriguez’s comments about Chicago starter Yu Darvish prior to the Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Nationals at Wrigley Field on Sunday. “My job is to protect my brood,” Maddon told reporters. “It’s no different than being a parent.” Rodriguez, speaking to reporters, called the conversation during the ESPN pre-production meeting “brief” and “very positive.” “We don’t have to agree on everything, but I do have a lot of respect for Joe and obviously the Cubs organization and I have for a long time and that hasn’t changed,” Rodriguez said. According to The Athletic, the two got into a heated argument during the meeting when Maddon confronted Rodriguez about his comments. Rodriguez called Darvish out on “Sunday Night Baseball” in late July, questioning the injured right-hander’s commitment to the Cubs. Darvish, who signed a $126 million contract with Chicago in the offseason, is on the DL with right triceps tendinitis. He hasn’t started for the Cubs since May 20. Rodriguez claimed at the time that Darvish is losing the faith of his teammates. “So [Darvish] will let the team know when he’s ready, which, let me just tell you what that means to a clubhouse,” Rodriguez said. “You lose respect quickly.And my concern for him — because he’s a great young talent — is it may take two or three or four years and you may never get that back.” His comments brought the ire of Darvish’s agent Joel Wolfe who told The Athletic that Rodriguez’s statements were “classless” and “bordered on unprofessional.” Maddon labeled what Rodriguez said as “plastic, probably rehearsed … and contrived” while on WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago “When you speak badly about my group it brings out the Hazleton in me,” Maddon said Sunday, making referent to the Pennsylvania town where he grew up. Rodriguez said he does not regret what he said about Darvish. “My job is to say it fairly and objectively and I have over 25 years in the game and I’m gonna call it as I see it,” he said. Rodriguez and Maddon appear to have made peace. “We talked openly about it,” Maddon said. “Under those circumstances for me, you speak in a candid manner and then you move on. I really believe through that conversation that we have a chance to be pretty good friends.”<doc-sep>
Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon and Alex Rodriguez say they are all good following their spat regarding the former superstar and current ESPN analyst's comments about Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish. Rodriguez had accused Darvish, who has struggled with injuries in the first year of a six-year, $126 million deal, of being a distraction during a Sunday Night Baseball game he called in July. "I totally disagree" with the comments, Maddon said at the time. Meeting before Sunday night's ESPN broadcast — won by the Cubs on a dramatic walk-off grand slam — Maddon and Rodriguez emerged saying all was well. "Alex and I had a really nice discussion," Maddon told reporters before the game. "I felt good about it. Hopefully he felt the same. We talked openly about it. Under those circumstances for me, you speak in a candid manner and then you move on. I really believe through that conversation that we have a chance to be pretty good friends." Rodriguez also spoke to reporters briefly and seemed to echo those sentiments. "We had a brief, very positive conversation," Rodriguez told reporters. "What’s great about this is we all have the same interests — to grow the game, to highlight stories as objectively as we can. ... I thought it was a very positive conversation." "Joe and I plan to have drinks together. That's planned. That's in the books," Rodriguez added. The Athletic reported their meeting as being a bit more contentious than either had said, though Maddon denied that after Sunday's game, saying "It was a strong conversation between two men." "My job, I believe, is to protect my brood," Maddon had said. "Quite frankly, it’s no different than being a parent." Contributing: Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports