Approximately 90% of players in Minor League Baseball will be released at some point in their career. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the role of individuals’ basic psychological needs during the release from professional baseball and throughout their subsequent transition to a new career. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 former Minor League Baseball players. Thematic analysis generated four themes: (a) The release resulted in immediate but temporary basic psychological need thwarting, (b) the “liberating experience” of the release allowed individuals to perceive autonomy in the transition out of affiliated baseball, (c) perceptions of competence served as the foundation for a positive transition to a new career, and (d) meaningful connections fostered individuals’ perception of relatedness in the transition out of affiliated baseball. The findings suggest that need fulfillment might act as a buffer between potential stressors in the transition process and athletes’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response.

未成年人棒球比赛中约有90％的球员将在其职业生涯的某个时候被释放。这项研究的目的是定性地探索个人从职业棒球释放期间以及随后的新职业过渡过程中基本心理需求的作用。半结构化访谈是针对12名前未成年人联盟棒球运动员进行的。主题分析产生了四个主题：（a）释放导致立即但暂时的基本心理需求受挫；（b）释放的“解放经验”使个人能够感知从附属棒球过渡的自主权；（c）对释放的认识能力是向新职业积极过渡的基础，（d）有意义的联系促进了个人从联盟棒球过渡中的相关性感知。研究结果表明，需求的满足可能会在过渡过程中潜在的压力源与运动员的认知，情感和行为反应之间起到缓冲作用。