There are many sides to every story.

The Braves have the left-hander of the future in the minors, Tommy Hanson, and may not be willing to commit a roster spot to a veteran coming off an injury who (a) hasn’t really been successful in two years and (b) doesn’t have a whole lot of velocity left on his fastball (not that velocity made Tom Glavine the pitcher he has been).

The Braves may not feel the same level of commitment to a player who left for money and pitched for five years with the Mets, a team in their division; a team for which Glavine won his 300th game.

Tom Glavine hasn’t always sounded like he was committed to his rehab, saying once that if things didn’t look up, he’d retire anyway.

Though in his last two efforts, Glavine sounded like he felt good and was ready for one last ML shot.

And, I don’t think Glavine wanted to wait for a few more starts, and maybe a start at AAA rather than A to see if he could get better hitters out.  And something tells me that the Braves didn’t see eye to eye with Glavine as to his state of readiness.

And when all these forces collide, you get a news headline like this one and realize that you may never get a chance to see Tom Glavine pitch again.  It’s sad to see him leave, it’s sad to see him released, and I don’t want him just taking a job with someone like – oh – Washington because they need to find ANYBODY who can pitch six innings every fifth or sixth day for the rest of the season.  (I would guess other pitching starved teams in contention might give him a shot – like Philadelphia – before he’d sign with Washington.)

At the same time, getting released sounds so harsh.  There will be no pleasant retirement, with tears, surrounded by teammates and management and all.  (Who was the last long-time Brave to actually retire with the Braves?  Phil Niekro?)

Just a quick fax to the MLB offices saying it’s over in Atlanta for Tom Glavine.