Alex Rodriguez Clears the Air with Joe Maddon After Critical Yu Darvish Comments

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.

"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."