The more the lack of communication continues, the more it puts the whole marital issues story in doubt. And even if the issue turns out to be marital problems, going dark on the team and ignoring attempts to check in with him for a month or more has to be considered inexcusable. Regardless that the Tigers are not paying him during this time, Rodriguez still has a professional, contractual obligation to the Tigers that he can’t just unilaterally cast aside at his choosing.
Imagine having marital issues that you temporarily had to leave your job to handle, your employer checks in with you after two, three, four weeks, whatever it is, and you complete ignore them. Would you expect your employer to respectfully back off and still hold your job for you, no matter how long it took?
Regardless of the situation Rodriguez is in, In the end, the Tigers have a business to run that affects thousands of other employees, as well as answers to a constituency encompassing an entire state. The team can’t simply put their plans in a holding pattern, held hostage to the whim of a single man who abandoned them suddenly and has gone into radio silence. I respect the idea that family is the most important consideration in the world, and that here in the 21st Century employers are expected to give employees some room to manage major family problems. There’s a reasonable limit to that room, though.