Josh Hamilton will miss the first month of the regular season after receiving stem cell and PRP injections in his troublesome left knee, the Rangers announced today. (Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has the details from the team’s briefing with media.) The Rangers’ plan, as outlined by assistant GM Thad Levine, is for Hamilton to play some minor league rehab games in late April and then be activated off the DL in early May.
“We are giving him an eight-week program because we don’t want to cut any corners,” Levine said. “Last year, we may have accelerated things and he suffered the hamstring injury early and it was an issue all year. This way he will get the benefit of a full spring training.”
It’s been an open question as to how much Hamilton will be able to contribute to the Ranger this season, as the 34-year-old has battled continued pain in his left knee despite two operations in the last six months. The former AL MVP has played in just 139 games over the last two seasons due to a variety of injuries and Texas was already planning to use Hamilton in a semi-platoon role in left field to try and keep him healthy.
As Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram puts it on Twitter, the Rangers are “taking [a] guarded approach” to Hamilton’s injuries. While the team is still talking to free agent outfielders, Texas could also use internal options like Ryan Rua, Joey Gallo, Justin Ruggiano or perhaps prospects Nomar Mazara or Lewis Brinson. Levine said that Hamilton’s DL status doesn’t greatly change the club’s plans for left field since the Rangers weren’t expecting Hamilton as a full-time option anyway.
Maybe his knee will get better if he rubs the millions of dollars we’re paying him on it. SMH.
As an Angels fan I hope he stays out and rubs the tens of millions arte is paying him on his knee. lol.
Just so you people are clear, no one forced the Angels to sign Hamilton. They knew the risks and signed him to a massive deal anyway.
It’s good to see personal accountability is alive and well….oh….wait. FWIW the Angels put a clause in his contract if he had a drug relapse. He was okay with it and signed it. MLB threw it out.
That’s Art for you!
And no one forced him to sign the contract that had a clause in it that he agreed to about if he had a drug lapse. MLB threw it out. They did all they could to protect themselves. It’s good to see personal accountability is alive and well….oh….wait….
Gee. Thanks for clearing that up.
I agree and wasn’t happy when they signed him….the Angels could be paying for him to be on their 25man roster and on DL or someone else’s…personally I’m glad he’s on someone else’s….
You mean the Angels are paying him?
Yep that was part of the deal that sent him back to Texas was that angels would cover most of his salary
Shocker
I use to be big JH fan, but now is the time for him to ride off into the sunset.
I didn’t realize you were cutting him checks. Sorry to hear. Must be hard to offer so much money and be so upset when they accept it.
Yes. That’s exactly why we’re upset.
poor ranger fans…. when he comes back make him a DH so he doesn’t hurt it playing in the field.
where they gonna put Fielder then?
As a fan of baseball, its refreshing when an organization exercises the patience to let a player get all the way right before thrusting them back into the fold. That has ended more than a few careers and reduced others to mediocrity. Hopefully Hamilton can get even partially back to form, this team looks to be a contender this year.
Good thing Hamilton is already reduced to mediocrity.
Hope Hamilton will return healthy and ready to go
Why on earth is he anything other than a dh?? Put Fielder on first, Moreland in left and let Hamilton just hit.
Well, at least he’s injured and not contributing to another team while the Angels are paying him. I hard time seeing any sort of career Renaissance occurring. Think this contract is his last.
Josh began his career on the disabled list
This is the most un surprising article ever posted on this site ever.
He’s 35 years old and it’s been nearly 3 and a half years since he’s been productive at the plate. Maybe it’s time for fans to give up the notion that he can still play the game at a high level. In the Rangers favor, they’re not paying him very much so it’s not like it’s a huge loss. He’s not that guy with triple crown potential anymore. Sorry….but it happens to all players as they get older—-especially one with a history of injuries.
Well, he really should be a DH only, but I question he can even do that now and the rangers roster does not seem to allow for that
Funny how Hamilton always waits until just before ST to complain about a problem that then gets treated and ensures he misses all of spring training. Can’t cut into his offseason vacation I guess. Its good news for the Angels since paying him all that money to be productive for a division competitor would be hard. My guess is Hamilton gets released before his deal is over since Texas does not have much to lose, then he can enjoy life again. Its a shame, all that talent.
Make sure to extend the old man at 3B Texas….LMAO
Of course Beltre will be extended. He’s still a very good player and a leader in the clubhouse. It’d be stupid not to!
Why would they not extend Beltre? He’s still very good player and a clubhouse leader.