Will Glavine Stay or Will he Go?

If you read the NY Post yesterday, you were left with the impression that Glavine is most likely coming back for another season in 2008. A more expansive story on MLB.com, however, makes it sound much more like he will retire:

"If I felt good at the end of the year, it would be hard to walk away," Glavine said. "But I also know I want to be home more, too . . . Last year, it was more about whether or not I was coming back here. This year, I think it's whether or not I'm playing the game of baseball. That's a different decision, and I think it's a bigger decision for me to make."

I can't tell if the Post was cherry-picking quotes to make it sound like Glavine is more likely to stay or if the MLB.com story came from a different, backpedaling interview with Glavine. It sounds to me, however, that the fundamental questions have changed for Glavine, and unlike prior years he is now actually considering his will to play. Yes, he implies that falling short of a championship might lead him to come back again, but it's not like Glavine doesn't already have a World Series ring and, perhaps more importantly, played the key role in the deciding game of that World Series.

If I had to bet, I'd bet that Glavine retires this fall. He has his 300 wins. He has accomplished everything he can in the game. And, while the New York press often says that he has established a new home-away-from-home in New York, the prospect of leaving Atlanta a few years ago had him in tears, and the family still lives there.

If I'm Tom Glavine, I'd think that it's a good time to go home.