Add new comment

I think wilson was and is still a significantly better SS than Ryan will ever hope to be.
And I get the idea that dumping prima donnas might be a good organizational imperative.
BUT ...
The reality is that 99% of all pro athletes are prima donnas.  They have been "the best" since grade school, and if they make it all the way to starting at the highest level, that likely means they've never had any reason to be the least bit humble about their ability at any point.
It's one thing to suggest a strategy for dealing with prima donnas.  It's another to pretend they don't exist and that you can get away pretending that just because someone makes a million bucks a year that aren't human any more.
Regardless of whether you make 10k, 50k or 8 million, there IS a "predictable" psychological response from a person if you: A) demote them ... and then, B) Tell them you're interviewing for their position they've been demoted to, so they shouldn't bother putting any pictures of family on their desk, because they'll likely be sent packing in two months.
Is there ANY profession where you could "expect" an employee to be 100% fully engaged under those circumstances? 
Jack Wilson did not whine to the press about being demoted.  He didn't go out of his way to be a jerk about it.  But, he was EMBARASSED after making two errors at a position he is unfamiliar with (and then botched his manager trying to cover for him). 
My mom was a kick-butt executive secretary for 20 years.  Then, due to corporate shake-up, she was moved into "Capital Recovery", and was forced to become a financial expert in her 40s.  THEN, when that job was surplussed, in order to stay employed, she was forced to become an engineer in her 50s.  And because she was incredibly smart and had an incredible work ethic, she pulled off those changes in jobs.  But, she went from being superb at her job to excellent to merely competent.  So, her final years at the company, she literally hated going into work each day.  She got more money as an engineer than if she would've remained a secretary ... but she opted for early retirement, instead.  If she could've remained a secretary, she might have worked into her 70s, and been a valuable asset to her company.
In the end, if you want to cut all the prima donnas from the roster, then the only ones on the field come game time are going to be the ball girls.