Why Glavine will mercifully retire

Tom Glavine's season is over, and so perhaps is his career. A meeting later this week with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews will either confirm or refute that, but in the meantime, let us consider why the Braves would be better off if the 42-year-old left-hander retires.

First, a brief synopsis:

Attempting to shore up a mangled rotation last November, the Braves made a modest gamble and signed the free agent Glavine, who had never endured a stint on the disabled list during 21 seasons with Atlanta and New York. He figured to be a dependable middle rotation starter, a veteran who could win 15 games but would more likely log a bunch of innings. You still can't fault the Braves there.

But fittingly, those fanciful notions quickly died. Three starts into the season and Glavine was shelved with a strained right hamstring. It was a minor inconvenience, a 15-day setback.

More troubling was his return -- no life on his fastball, no location with his changeup. After he returned from the DL on April 29, Glavine went 2-1 with a gaudy 5.56 ERA. It was during this less-than-impressive stretch that he revealed he was battling elbow discomfort, pain that knocked him out of a June 10 start and sent him on a two-month rehabilitation.

With Glavine out of the rotation, the Braves were forced to depend upon youngsters Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes and Jair Jurrjens, each of whom had less than one year of major-league experience.

Morton, 24, has shown potential, but he has already been plagued by rookie inconsistencies and meager run support; Reyes, 23, was shipped to Triple-A Richmond for the rest of the season because of an erratic fastball; and Jurrjens, 22, has since taken the reins of the Braves' rotation after learning Tim Hudson will miss the rest of this season and most of 2009 because of Tommy John surgery.

But neither Morton, Reyes nor Jurrjens have either the experience or presence of Glavine, who was signed to a one-year, $8 million deal in the offseason to produce results -- not nostalgia.

But there comes a point when a team must cut its losses and look toward the future. The Braves are at that point.

If Glavine's balky elbow has only a partially torn flexor tendon (as originally diagnosed) and is not in need of elbow ligament transplant surgery, he says he will attempt to rehabilitate the rest of this year and should be ready for Spring Training. If he needs Tommy John surgery, and the 12-to-16-month rehabilitation that follows, he's not coming back.

It shouldn't matter to the Braves.

They were 3-10 in his starts this season, including five consecutive losses to end the year. Glavine pitched into the sixth inning in less than half of his starts, a modest output considering the bullpen's relative exhaustion this season. And he will turn 43 before the 2009 season starts, which should be enough to make Braves fans queasy considering the amount of discomfort he is currently experiencing with his elbow.

But perhaps more disconcerting was Glavine's rehabilitation. Before he began a two-start rehabilitation assignment with Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach and Double-A Mississippi, Glavine threw a simulated game at Turner Field, during which he said he threw his fastball with more zip than he had in two years. He allowed three runs on seven hits in nine innings during those two rehab starts, and told Braves officials that he felt great, that his fastball was a few ticks above what it was in May, when his velocity began to suspiciously dip.

So, what happened? He barely touched 82 mph in his start Thursday against the Cubs, ironically the same team that knocked him out of his last start, on June 10. Sore afterward, incapable of moving his elbow the next day, and thus he's shut down for the rest of the season.

Face it: The Tom Glavine Experiment failed. Miserably. With globs of money to spend during free agency, the Braves don't need his services any longer. And believe it or not, they can go out and chase the likes of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, two pitchers who will command expensive, multiyear contracts that the Braves can afford.

A young core has already been put in place, and they should no longer feel an obligation to have Glavine pitch in a Braves uniform as long as he maintains a desire to. They afforded Glavine an opportunity this year, and it just didn't work out.

Regardless of what Andrews finds in Glavine's elbow this week -- the original flexor-tendon tear or something more severe -- it shouldn't matter to the Braves. They don't need him.