Roger Rubin On Toucher & Rich: Shoppach Part Of Group Of Players That Sent Text Message

A bizarre situation inside the Red Sox clubhouse took an even crazier turn over the weekend, with the New York Daily News reporting that the text message sent to ownership from Adrian Gonzalez's phone was not actually written by Gonzalez. Instead, Roger Rubin reported that Kelly Shoppach was the player who typed in the words that were ultimately read by someone in the ownership group.

It's since come out that on the day of the reported meeting that took place as a result, Shoppach was in Texas with his family. Rubin was a guest on Toucher & Rich on Monday morning and said the fact that Shoppach didn't attend the meeting doesn't mean he wasn't involved in the sending of the text message.

"He's a Major League Baseball player, he's 23rd or 24th or 25th man on the roster. He has a single day that he's able to be with his family in Texas... he's gonna cancel that?" Rubin said. "It doesn't really seem relevant."

Rubin explained that Shoppach was not the only Red Sox player upset with manager Bobby Valentine.

"He's not the 'one' behind it," Rubin said of Shoppach. "He is one of a small group of players that crafted the message. It is not that Kelly Shoppach got Adrian Gonzalez's phone and typed the message in. It's that he was one of the players."

Rubin said his guess is that Shoppach's name was made public by the sources because he is the player no longer with the team.

Regarding Gonzalez's involvement, the first baseman may have given up his phone to try to quiet the complaints of that group.

"I think [Gonzalez] was sick and tired of listening to a small group of players that included Shoppach, complaining constantly about Valentine and the assorted different things that he did that irked them," Rubin said. "And I think he wanted them to stop. I think it was more about getting these guys to stop bellyaching."