MLB Hot Stove: Dodgers Cut Brian Wilson — Where Will The Beard Land Next?

We can grieve for formerly great closer Brian Wilson, who was released Friday by the Los Angeles Dodgers despite $9.5 million left on his contract. Or we can grieve for the part of him that's most worthy of grieving for: his spectacular, congenial beard. That's right, the best beard in all baseball, the one that parties with Charlie Sheen and ruins his host's chances of signing with the New York Yankees, according to CBS Sports, is now officially unemployed.

Wilson rose to fame as the shutdown closer of the 2010 World Series champion San Francisco Giants. That year, he recorded his third consecutive 30-plus-save season, led the league with 48 and pitched to a 1.81 ERA in 70 appearances. He was dominant in the playoffs, and as his success grew so did his facial hair. Fame followed right behind it and his mustache began to curl and you wondered just how deep down there his chin actually lived.

But a mediocre season in 2011 left Wilson in need of Tommy John surgery and he missed all of 2012 before latching on with arch-enemy Los Angeles in 2013. The Dodgers gave WIlson the eighth-inning job with intentions of having him set up for incumbent closer Kenley Jansen. Wilson struggled to recover and was awful in 2014, posting a 4.66 ERA in 61 appearances. The struggles of Wilson and the rest of the bullpen were one of the only things standing between the Dodgers's excellent roster and a World Series appearance.

Finally, the Dodgers cut ties with Wilson, according to NBC Sports. But the beard lives on — bigger, badder and more sharply groomed than ever. We can only hope that it's back on a baseball field somewhere soon. If he finds his way onto a field, there's a good chance the beard will be with him.

See the clip below to see the extent of his conviction.

"I would never sell my facial hair," Wilson says, according to Fox Sports. "I still have it because most people hate it."