In what’s being called a “tentative agreement,” the Texas Rangers are working out a trade with the Los Angeles Angels to get trouble outfielder Josh Hamilton back. The only thing “tentative” about it is how much of Hamilton’s contract the Angels are willing to eat to be shed of him and they’re likely looking at around $68 million. As high priced contract flops go, Hamilton’s has to be one of the all-time best.
.@Angels, @Rangers close to deal to bring @thejoshhamilton back to Texas, reports @Sullivan_Ranger. Clubs have not confirmed.
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2015
Hamilton signed a five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels in Dec. 2012 in a move that made sense at the time. Hamilton was coming off some monster years with the Rangers where he topped 100 RBIs three times and nearly hit the mark four times and put 43 home runs over the fence in 2012.
But Hamilton couldn’t replicate his performance in Anaheim over the next two seasons. It’s not that he was bad or not still a major league-level hitter, he just wasn’t a $135 million hitter.
Then, of course, the matter of Hamilton’s substance abuse. I usually don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for professional athletes that get busted and punished for drugs. You want to sit on the couch smoking pot all day, save that for retirement. The idea of snorting cocaine off a Hooter’s waitresses lower back tattoo too tempting? You’ll have plenty of time for that as a rich, retired 40-year-old. The good times can wait.
But Hamilton’s story this time is completely different. Facing numbers that are below his own expectations, injuries and going through a divorce, Hamilton suffered a relapse, going back to the drugs and alcohol problems that nearly derailed his career for good a decade ago. Hamilton wasn’t busted for this. He didn’t fail a drug test. He turned himself in because he needed and wanted help and because of that, an outside arbitrator ruled that he can’t be punished by Major League Baseball.
https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/591722990867447808
Not that the MLB, in all its wisdom, likes that at all. In fact, the entire reason it took an arbitrator to decide it because their four-person committee was deadlocked, with the two representatives of the MLB seeking to suspend Hamilton again, partly to make a big show of how tough the MLB’s drug policies are after their laughable attempts to pretend to regulate them in the 1990s.
Sympathy for the Angels
The other reason they wanted to suspend Hamilton, you’ll be shocked to learn, is money. Under the MLB drug policy, a team has to pay a player their full salary for the first 30 days they’re in treatment after they get busted, then half his salary for the next 30 days. After that, they don’t pay him anything until he’s reinstated. In Hamilton’s case, because he wasn’t suspended, the Angels are on the hook for his full, regular salary. And, in case you’re wondering, that’s $23 million for 2015 whether he plays or not.
There’s no salary cap in baseball so Hamilton’s contract won’t keep the Angels from making any player moves, but that’s real money. And because of the amount of guaranteed money in Hamilton’s contract, the bonuses he’s due and that the Rangers (and no other team) want to take those on, Los Angeles is stuck paying out $70 million for nothing. As much as you want to hate on sports owners, that’s a bitter pill for anybody to swallow.
Sources: Rangers to take on less than $7m of Hamilton's remaining contract. Could be less than that, too: http://t.co/BgovqVa0L7
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) April 25, 2015
There should be a way to fix that for teams like the Angels with situations like Hamilton’s and frankly, I have no idea what the answer is. Luckily since I’m not a multibillionaire looking to buy a professional sports team, I’ll never have to figure it out. Regardless, there should be a way for players to seek help and self-report without being punished while at the same time teams aren’t stuck with mammoth, worthless contracts where they owe a guy that doesn’t play for them more than the GDP of the Tuvalu Islands.
The Best Thing for Hamilton
There’s no question the move is the best thing that could have happened for Hamilton and his recovery. He had a good support system in Texas to stay out of trouble and the Rangers built a support system for him when they signed him back in 2008 including an accountability coach. He needs all that and my guess is he’ll get it with the Rangers, because they, perhaps better than most teams, know what a mentally and physically healthy Josh Hamilton is capable of achieving. I’m glad he’s getting the chance to show it.
