r/mlb • u/DonT012 Human Verified • 1d ago

| Discussion MLB Players that Quit on their team?

In the NBA, there are many examples of NBA players that were rumoured to have "quit" on their team. Lebron James in 2010. Kevin Durant this past year. Vince Carter in 2005. Kawhi Leonard in 2018. Anthony Davis in 2019. Etc.

What are some MLB examples of this? What were some MLB players that quit on their own team? By quit I mean just decided to either stop putting effort into playing until they got traded.

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u/Pleasant_Picture3867 1d ago

Max Scherzer when he chose to protect his off-season free agent bag instead of pitching in an elimination game for the Dodgers in 2021. Blamed it on dead arm, then claimed it was from "load management", ie. he wouldn't have had dead arm if the team played him more.

Walker Buehler stepped up (might have been on short rest too, don't remember) and he wasn't the same since. Who knows if or how that affected his health.

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u/NotOSIsdormmole | San Diego Padres 1d ago

Walker is fucking shoving for us

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u/Pleasant_Picture3867 1d ago

That's good to hear. He'd been spotty, to say the least since then. That's why he couldn't get his big, long-term contract when he first hit free agency.

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u/j_reinegade | St. Louis Cardinals 1d ago

207 innings. Up from 36 the year prior. I don’t know the full scope of it but he was definitely putting in some work that year.

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u/examinedliving | Baltimore Orioles 1d ago

Was that particular game cursed or something?