Thanks. Did you reset the MBP's SMC yet? The procedure is justified for any problem related to system sleep or power:SMC reset.
Follow all the steps exactly as written.
If that does not result in immediate resolution, the reason your MBP is taking so long to shut down or sleep will be due to one or more of the running processes that modify OS X. You already eliminated some possibilities by deleting the Startup Items, so the reason is likely to be one of the remaining system modifications. My earlier caution about the presence of uTorrent still applies, since it's possible for malicious software obtained from a torrent host to have modified OS X in a manner that will be difficult to find.
In all likelihood one or more of the many Launch Daemons or Launch Agents or other system modification is the culprit, and if you are interested in isolating the cause, consider the following:
Note the time in your Mac's menu bar or some other accurate timepiece. Then, press the button to put the Mac to sleep. Wait until the cursor disappears and for all indications that the Mac appears to be asleep.
Then, wake the Mac the way you normally wake it.
Then, find the Console app - it is in your Utilities folder and looks like this
You can find it by selecting Utilities from the Finder's Go menu.
Open Console.
If the log list column on the left is not already displayed, show the log list by selecting Show Log List from Console's View menu.
Locate system.log in the list and select it. Many date and time-stamped entries will appear, hundreds of them, and you must find the entries relevant to your Mac's sleep problem. To do that type the words sleep cause in the Filter field at the upper right of the Console window:
That will cause all log entries to be hidden, except for the entries containing those words. The last entry in the list will correspond to the last time you woke the Mac. It will have a time stamp in the form hh:mm:ss later than the time you noted in the Mac's menu bar prior to putting it to sleep.
Make note of that exact time in hours, minutes, and seconds.
Next: Clear the filter field by clicking the x in the above screenshot. It should then look like this:
All previously displayed log entries will reappear.
Next: Find the log entry that corresponds exactly to the time you noted in hours, minutes, and seconds containing the words "previous sleep cause". You may have to scroll up or down a considerable distance. When you find that line, select it and drag your cursor up and prior to the entry corresponding to the approximate time you noted before putting the Mac to sleep. This will result in a selection of perhaps 50 to 100 lines or so.
One or more of them, along with their time stamps, may reveal the reason for the excessive delay.
Copy and paste those log entries in a reply.
Most of the entries will be cryptic but will contain information you might consider personal such as your Mac's name. If you do not want that information to appear, delete or obscure it when posting your reply. Leave enough information so that the entries can be deciphered.
