Cut Him !

Fans have often wanted to release struggling players. A few years ago they wanted to cut Michael Harris. Now he's tearing it up. Sometimes you gotta let a kid figure it out. 

After his first two seasons, Tom Glavine had gone 9-21 with ERAs of 5.54 and 4.56. A 0.4 WAR. Should the Braves cut him, they would've missed out on a hall of famer.

Same with Smoltz. in his rookie season he went 2-7 with a 5.48 ERA, and a negative -0.2 ERA. 

Even the great Greg Maddux started out 8-18 in his first two seasons, with ERAs of 5.52 and 5.61. His WAR was also negative: -0.4.

A great athlete, the beloved Bo Jackson batted .207 in his rookie season, with only 2 home runs in 91 plate appearances, compared to 34 strikeouts - a negative -0.8 WAR. It didn't get much better for Bo. The next three years he hit .234, .246, and .256, with WARs of 0.0, 1.7, and 2.7. For his career, Bo struck out 35% of the time - a much higher rate than noted strikeout kings Dave Kingman and Dan Uggla. Should the Royals have cut Bo?

I hate it when someone asks me what I'm going to do, now that I'm retired. Every other time someone asks me, when I start to answer that interrupt and tell me what I need to be doing. I HATE THAT. They're not interested in what I have to say, they're only interested in hearing themselves talk. Freaks me out.

ARKY VAUGHAN  [SABR Bio] walked away from the game for three years rather than play for Leo Durocher. With the Dodgers in 1943, Vaughan led the majors in runs scored but opted to retire at the age of 31.  Earlier in the season, he had walked out on the team for one game over comments Durocher made about teammate Bobo Newsome.  Branch Rickey lured Vaughan back in 1947, after Durocher was suspended over his ties to professional gamblers. Vaughan was selected to the Hall in 1985. When he made his Pirates debut on 17-April-1932 he took the field with future hall of famers Pie Traynor, Lloyd Waner, & Paul Waner. Leo Durocher was playing shortstop for the opposing Reds. Vaughan's nephew made his major league debut for the Houston Colt .45s at age 19, but failed to spark a long-lasting career. Shortstop Glenn “Sparky” Vaughan played 9 games for Houston as a September call-up in 1963.  He returned to the minors for 1964, but was out of baseball after that season. 

Denison: what Graham Platner's primary victory means for our culture.