The Detroit Tigers have had no communication with Eduardo Rodriguez since placing the star pitcher on the restricted list three weeks ago, according to general manager Al Avila, who said the team has “no choice but to wait it out right now.”
Avila addressed Rodriguez’s status Wednesday, 23 days after the left-hander was placed on the restricted list because of a personal matter. The Tigers announced at the time that Rodriguez would not rejoin the team “until further notice,” and Avila noted Wednesday that situation is “unusual.”
“We’ve reached out, but obviously he hasn’t reached out back, so we’re just kind of waiting it out,” Avila told reporters. “It is unusual, but we have no choice but to wait it out right now and see what develops as we move forward.”
Rodriguez is in the first year of a five-year, $77 million deal with the Tigers but has not pitched since suffering a rib cage injury on May 18. He was set to return from a minor league rehab assignment before being placed on the restricted list June 13.
Rodriguez has not been paid while on the restricted list, and Avila declined to answer whether the Tigers have discussed voiding his contract.
“I’m not going to get into that at this point,” Avila said. “Obviously that’s a private situation right now on his part, so I won’t get into any of those legalities.”
Tigers manager AJ Hinch told reporters Friday that Rodriguez was at his home but did not provide further information, saying the team has “respected his privacy and just tried to wait for his camp to give us some direction on what’s ahead.”
“We want him to be OK,” Hinch told reporters. “We want him to be in a good place, we want everything to settle around him. But we can’t really make any considerations until we know exactly what’s at hand. We’ll wait for him to open up when he wants.”
Rodriguez, 29, is 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA in eight starts this season for the Tigers. He spent his first six major league seasons with the Boston Red Sox and was a 19-game winner for Boston in 2019.