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Angels reportedly tried to trade Josh Hamilton back to Rangers
"So I have a splendid idea. Do you remember how great Josh Hamilton was in a Rangers uniform? I heard y'all down there in Texas are interested in trading for an outfielder. Well, I got just the guy — Josh Hamilton. And he's still playing baseball, so it seems like an ideal fit. Whaddya say? We'll throw in a pair of Mike Trout's cleats!"
We imagine the Los Angeles Angels calling the Texas Rangers, asking if they'd like to get Josh Hamilton back in a trade, sounded something like that. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports that the Angels tried to shop Hamilton recently to the Rangers, for whom he played from 2008-12 and had that 2010 MVP season.
The Rangers' response probably went something like this:
"Sorry, we've got our share of overpaid injured dudes down here in Texas. But we'll be sure to laugh about this later."
The Rangers — for as many things as they might need — certainly don't need Hamilton again. He signed a five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels before the 2013 season and has largely been a bust. He hit .250 in 2013. He was pretty good to start 2014, but then was injured for a stretch, and returned with zero mojo at the end of the season. Meanwhile in Texas, fans hated him when he left but now are probably happy he's gone.
"What to do with Josh Hamilton?" is a legitimate question for the Angels, since he's owed $83 million over the next three seasons. Rosenthal reports the Angels shopped him to two teams so far this offseason — the Rangers and the San Diego Padres. There were no significant talks after that. The Padres would have to be insane to take on both Josh Hamilton and Matt Kemp.
But Rosenthal and at least one of his sources think Hamilton isn't long for the Angels, at least not for those remaining three seasons. He wrote:
A scout with whom I speak regularly predicted Tuesday that Josh Hamilton would not open the season as a member of the Angels. I would not go that far. But I would bet that Hamilton does not complete the final three years of his contract with the club.
Publicly at least, the Angels are saying they think Hamilton can bounce back in 2015. But anybody who watched him in the ALDS last year — in which he was hitless in 13 at-bats and looked very overmatched — will have doubts about Hamilton, 33, moving forward.
Angels GM Jerry Dipoto gave Hamilton a public endorsement, for what that's worth:
“We do believe in Josh,” Dipoto said. “We’ve seen it every day when he takes batting practice. We’ve seen him hit balls that humans shouldn’t hit. What he does, 99 percent of the players can’t do. We are absolutely of the belief that the ability is there for him to do the things that he has done in the past. Now we have to help him turn the key to bring the ability out.”
Teams have tried to unlock Hamilton before, to varying results. The Rangers got the best of it. But that's not what you want to do with a player whom you're paying $23 million in 2015 and $30 million each of the next two years.
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
