The rumors and unnamed-execs-being-quoted-stampede for where Tom Glavine might sign has already begun. Baseball Digest puts the Glavine situation this way:
According to an industry source, suddenly out of work pitchers Tom Glavine and Vicente Padilla will not be jobless for long.
One NL exec told BaseballDigest.com on Wednesday night the Phillies "like both pitchers and will sign one of them before the week is out."
"The Phillies have been waiting for just this type of opportunity; take a veteran starter for a test drive for the next month or so before having to make any hard decisions about (San Diego’s Jake) Peavy or (Houston’s Roy) Oswalt."
I always love it when non-human phrases are applied to humans, and taking Glavine for a "test drive" is half-way demeaning, and the other half hilarious. They go on to say this in the article:
Glavine, who spurned the Phillies for the Mets back in 2003, is said to be "furious" with how the Braves handled the situation and "can’t wait to stick it up their (bleep)." Signing with the Phillies would go a long way towards fulfilling that goal.
If I was Glavine, I would probably be pretty mad too. That paragraph also helps me remember that the Phillies were really heavily in on Glavine when he was a free agent back in '03. The article also speculates that the Mets and even the Nationals could be possible destinations for Glavine. Though, the Mets are apparently not considering Glavine.
It seems there are a chorus of people out there who want Glavine to try and pitch again for someone else just to show that the Braves were wrong to release him. This may be too much for Glavine to ignore, remember, he's a big player's union guy and that may lead him to land on the side of proving that a team made a wrong decision and that the player should have been trusted when he says he's ready.
Keep in mind too that this could add extra fuel to the angst that John Smoltz feels for the Braves right now. He is scheduled to make his debut in two weeks, which could set up a scenario where he faces Atlanta on two seperate occaisions. We'll see if our old veteran cast-off pitchers will come back to haunt us.
[UPDATE: 1:30pm]
Add the Red Sox to the list of possible suitors for Glavine:
The Red Sox are "close to the top, if not at the top" of the list of teams just released veteran Tom Glavine would pitch for, according to a source close to Glavine.
Again, I'm fine with this. Let them sign him.