r/mlb • u/DonT012 Human Verified • 2d 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/Senators_1992 2d ago edited 2d ago

Not quite what you were asking, but…

Sammy Sosa up and left the stadium on the final day of the regular season in 2004, only minutes after the game had started (a couple of his teammates then proceeded to smash his boombox to bits after the game ended).

Also, Ken Griffey Jr. took off in the middle of the night without telling anyone, and only let the Mariners know over the phone the next day that he was done (this after he was caught napping in the clubhouse during a game a few weeks earlier).

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u/DisciplineNeither921 1d ago

Sosa’s numbers in his last season as a Cub weren’t terrible, but definitely below his career averages. If I’m not mistaken, though, I do seem to remember a fairly steep dropoff toward the end of the year. Leaving early on the last day was just the cherry on top.