Hypothetical: You’re the owner of an MLB team. I offer to take $0 salary and sign a minor league contract and go to Low A.
If the “he sucks now” crowd is right and I get lit up, you cut me, lose $0 and there’s no risk to the big league club.
If the “clubhouse cancer” crowd is right, you see it immediately at Low A and cut me. You lose $0 and there’s no risk to the big league club.
If there’s massive negative PR, which we already know there won’t be, you just cut me and move on. The story is dead in a couple days, you lose $0, and there’s no risk to the big league club.
But, assuming none of those things happen, which they obviously wouldn’t, if you like what you see, you can promote me to AA and re evaluate me there. Then AAA. Then the big leagues. If I earn it, which you’d be 100% in control of deciding. If you don’t think I’m good enough, you lose $0 and there’s no risk to the big league club.
You could take away my “antics”. You could take away my social media. You could ask anything of me. If I don’t comply, you cut me, lose $0, and there’s no risk to the big league club.
What logical reason is there to not do this? At worst, you cut me and there’s no risk to the big league club. At best, you get a Cy Young winner for $0 who you know can still pitch and could help the big league team if and when you see fit.
Chuck Norris held a 183-10-2 record and was a 6x world champion in full contact bare knuckle karate.
On top of that, he beat heavyweight kickboxing world champion Joe Lewis 3 consecutive times and also had a brutal sparring match with undefeated kickboxing world champion, Bill Superfoot Wallace, that lasted an hour and a half. According to Wallace, they practically stalemated and "beat the crap out of each other".
Chuck was trained in kickboxing/boxing by Benny The Jet Urquidez and was also trained in BJJ by the Gracies and Machados for 20 years. Even being able to submit Carlos Machado himself on occasion.
Chuck had a 315 Ibs bench press at 180 lbs bodyweight and was said to have a grip back in the day that nobody could escape from because he was so strong. Even Jean Claude Van Damme said he'd never fight Chuck Norris, despite being a kickboxing world champion himself.
Chuck held a 10th degree black belt in Chun Kuk Do, a 9th degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, an 8th degree black belt in Taekwondo, a 5th degree black belt in Karate, a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a black belt in Judo.
Rest in peace, Chuck!