Josh Hamilton might be the best hitter in the MLB, but his off-season won't go so simply. |
We watched Josh Hamilton mash an MLB record-tying four home runs against a surprisingly good Orioles team a few nights ago and that brought about a ton of questions about the future. Is soon-to-be free agent Josh Hamilton the next Albert Pujols? How much will his next contract be? Just what is this guy all about?
Well for one we know this guy can hit the heck out of a baseball. In his first full MLB season Hamilton batted .304, hit 35 homers and drove in 130 RBIs. Even though he couldn't win rookie of the year because he had lost his eligibility in Cincinnati the year before, Hamilton was immediately seen as something special. His 2008 home run derby was one of the most infamous home run derby's ever. It was only fitting that in the final year of the old Yankee Stadium we would get a memorable derby, and Hamilton provided it. The 27-year-old at the time mashed balls to parts of Yankee Stadium never touched before. Call it Hamilton's coming out party, but for him to put on such a show in baseball's championship kingdom, it set his career ablaze. Two years later Hamilton won the MVP with a monster .359 average.
It has been all gravy since 2007 for Josh Hamilton, but the previous years were not so magically. Hamilton's early years in baseball were filled with hard drugs, questionable characters and wrong turns. He was heading absolutely nowhere. Baseball wasn't saving him, as it took a family member's swift action in order to turn his life around. This is the major reason why Hamilton remains one of the most perplexing big time free agents of all-time.
Who is going to pay him? How is he going to be paid? Where is he going to go? The obvious move would be for him to take the hometown pay cut and stay in the place that has brought him nothing but blue skies. The Rangers will have money to spend, but they most likely won't dish out the 24-26 million a year many scouts believe he deserves. Hamilton is a different case than most free agents. He isn't injury prone, which is the usual excuse to why a great player doesn't get paid. He is a proven quantity, being a four-time all-star. His walk year is going as every walk year should: 17 HRs, 40 RBIs and a .407 BA through mid-May. There are plenty of reasons to put the pen to paper on a heavy deal with this guy. But his drug problems are so serious and so potential that a team has to be hesitant to sign him. A relapse is simply so easy and so instant for Hamilton that it should make any major market team fear his social presence. New York, Los Angeles and Miami are too wild for Hamilton right? Yes, but unfortunately they are the teams with the most money.
This chase for Hamilton could be anti-climatic. He might just ink a fair deal with the Rangers and call it a happy ending, but the money that a big time franchise throws at him will make him think, think long and hard. So while we watch Hamilton put together one of the better seasons in recent memory, let's remember that the drama won't stop in October.
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