To Pull the Plug or not to Pull the Plug

First things first...."He is going to be a starter [next year], and no game is more important than a kid's future," Torre said of the 21-year-old right-hander"

Second... another quote from Torre (something to this effect)... "I have loyalty to each individual, but my loyalty to the 25 guys as a whole has to be bigger"


Now, with all this Mussina talk I wanted to apply it more broadly to sports as a whole. When do you pull the plug on a guy?


Major factors:
1.) Longevity and history with team
Has this guy been a key cog for years? Has he won World Series and other big games? I believe teams are more prone to give leeway to a guy who has been there in the past. Guys like Rivera have basically a lifetime pass with Yankees and the fans. I know Mussina has pitched big games for the Yanks (Game 3 Oakland, Game 7 Red Sox), but to me he is just as much an Oriole if not more so.

2.) Contract
If there are still years left on the contract, pulling the plug makes things more complicated. It would make the player harder to trade because pulling him essentially means you are conceiting that his skills have declined and thus less appetizing to another team.

3.) Age
Is the guy in a rut or has he hit that wall that all athletes do at some point in their career? Is he young enough where taking him out of the rotation or lineup will kill his confidence and set him back? Is it a temporarily loss of mechanics?

4.) Team status
Is this a team in the playoff hunt where keeping the player active is going to hurt the team's chances? Or is this a team where the player means more to the franchise then his actual playing ability?
I don't believe any situation of pulling the plug is answerable without considering all 3 of these elements. For example Mussina, yes he has 7 years, yes he has special moments, yes he has another $11 million dollars on his contract for next year and yes he is getting up there in age.

What about Patrick Ewing's situation? He was the face of the franchise. He made the Knicks an upper echelon team for nearly his entire career. When the plug was pulled on him and he was traded to Seattle, the Knicks spiraled downwards. Was he missed on the court? At that point probably not, he had already missed the playoffs in 1999 and the Knicks made the finals without him. However, it may have had a lasting impact on the franchise. It is never easy to transition from one era to the next.

What about Rick Ankiel? When he lost his control he was still young. The Cardinals had to consider age, contract, longevity, etc. For this situation, age was probably the most influential. They had a serious athlete on their hands and management decided to pull the plug on his pitching career. Looks like it may pay off.

I pull the plug on Mussina, I try and deal him to a contender who needs a starter at the back end. If not, I eat the contract if starting him is going to hinder a younger pitcher's chance to succeed. Their is no leftover effect on the team from losing a guy like Musinna.
I do not pull the plug on a guy like Rivera until an extreme circumstance arises. There are certain guys who as a fan you would love to see walk away on their own terms. Curtis Martin was able to do this and I hope the same for Mo.