Tom Glavine: Braves 'were hoping I got hurt'

Tom Glavine finally spoke
about being released by the Braves during a radio interview this
morning, saying that he was “blindsided” by the move and feels the team
was hoping he would suffer a setback in his recovery from shoulder
surgery so “that would be the end of it.”

“Absolutely, they were hoping I got hurt, no question in my mind,”
Glavine said, adding that “a couple” teams have expressed interest in
signing him. According to Glavine, general manager Frank Wren told him
that “you’re not good enough to get guys out” after he tossed six
shutout innings in a rehab start Tuesday night at Single-A. Here’s more
from the 305-game winner:

Looking at the whole situation, and taking into account the amount
of time I’ve spent in this city and the amount of time I’ve spent in
baseball, there’s no question in my mind it could have been handled
better. [The Braves] don’t look at players and take into account what
they’ve done on the field, what they’ve done off the field, what
they’ve meant to the organization, what they’ve meant to the city, and
say, “Wait, these guys deserve to be treated a little bit differently
than this business model we have.”

It’s tough to really blame Glavine for feeling that he deserved better
than to be released right when he looked ready to complete his comeback
and certainly in a perfect world it would have been nice if the Braves
could have provided him an opportunity to end his Hall of Fame career
in style.

At the same time, the Braves are fighting to get above .500 and stay
in contention, and top prospect Tommy Hanson is ready to step into the
rotation while almost surely being a better pitcher than Glavine at
this stage in their respective careers. Plus, as Glavine himself
explained: “In order for them to pull this [Nate McLouth] deal off,
they had to get some money somewhere, and they got the money from
releasing me.”