The 5-2 Rangers send Matt Harrison to the mound in Minnesota tonight. Here are some Rangers-related notes…
- While GM Jon Daniels isn't wild about mid-season contract talks he told Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio (audio link) that the club is still open to getting a new deal done with Josh Hamilton. Hamilton is also open to talking about a deal during the season.
- Hamilton has suggested to the Rangers that he should be paid like an elite player, but Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com says the outfielder will have to make some compromises on his next contract. The Rangers may seek contract language that protects them against drug or injury issues and probably wouldn't feel comfortable offering a nine or ten-year deal. Yesterday we asked readers about Hamilton’s next contract.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that he's appreciative of C.J. Wilson's years with the Rangers, but doesn't want to discuss last offseason's contract negotiations publicly. Wilson said on The Dan Patrick Show that the Rangers "wasted" his time over the winter (audio here via sportsradiointerviews.com).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
While I hope Hamilton and the Rangers get a deal done in the 5-7 year range, it looks more like a team is going to go bonkers and offer Hamilton a Prince or Pujols contract. They’ll be laughed at for doing it, but it won’t stop them.
1. Hamilton has said that including relapse-protection clauses would not be a problem, so it’s pretty likely they’d include some of those if they’re not already in place. That said, I’m still not convinced the parties will reach a deal, unless Kinlser’s signing has Ham rethinking his restrictions on a home team discount.
2. Is CJ brain damaged?
Nobody is dumb enough to give Josh Hamilton a 7-10 year deal. MAYBE a 5 year deal, but even that might cause hesitation. Whatever contract he gets will be very unique and the players’ union will have quite the conflict of interest on their hands because (pun intended) God know’s Josh Hamilton has some mental and physical demons that he’s pretty much ignoring when he talks about his contract situation.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again- when he’s healthy and focused, Hamilton is worth $20MM a season, but he’s only healthy and focused about 60%-70% of the time and there’s no telling when, especially with a personal history such as his, that athletic body of his will shut down and he’ll become an exorbitantly priced platoon/DH/Off-the-Bench guy.
Cause the fact is this, plain and simple: Hamilton will not quit baseball. He wants his money. If he falls apart and becomes worthless, quite literally as in perenially injured, loss of power, range, etc. he is not gonna bow out gracefully. He’ll take a roster spot so long as he’s paid to do so or until a team cuts him and swallows whatever’s left on the contract.
Keeping all that in mind, if I was in a GM’s office, I would strongly advise them to not only have very specific wording in any new contracts about the penalties for Hamilton relapsing/spending significant time on the DL, but also either give him tons of money on short deals (2 years/$40MM) or have tons of opt-out clauses.
Bottom line: Hamilton is the best in the game when he’s healthy but that is not worth all the breath holding and disappointment that goes along with depending on a guy who’s proven he’s incapable of self-control.
Texas might be smart to let Hamilton hit the market and then negotiate, unless he is willing to sign now for 4-5Y and 17-20m AAV. I would be very afraid of going longer than 5 years with his injury history and even 4-5 years to tell you the truth.
Texas has already locked up for the foreseeable future the one who matters most (Kinsler) and has Beltre down for awhile to support the offense. Signing someone who has both injury and other problems gives them a problem am sure other teams do not relish and it is curious exactly how much LT contract interest he actually would garner on the open market.
I don’t see how anyone in their right minds would offer Hamilton more than 5 years. If it were up to me, I would be offering a higher annual salary before I started adding years to the deal. I would do a 3 year 75 million dollar deal before I did a 6 year $110 million dollar deal. The only way I would go to 5 years or beyond would be to have option years every year and contract language that could void the options (if the team decided to do so) based on injury, ending the season on the DL, drug or alcohol use, etc.
If you take away the drug and alcohol issues, Hamilton has had a lot of injuries and has missed a lot of time for someone who is going to try to get a 7+ year contract at 20+ million per season. Too risky.