Josh Hamilton provided yet another reminder that he’s one of the game’s elite players last night, hitting four home runs against the Orioles. He already has 14 home runs this year and he leads the American League in batting average (.406), on-base percentage (.458) and slugging percentage (.840). He’s on track for free agency following the 2012 season; here’s the latest on his contract status:
- The Texas star doesn't believe that the uncertainty will become a distraction this season, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas News. "I've been completely able to block it out," said Hamilton. "It's out of of my hands. If I end up with Texas, great; I'll be happy to be here. If not, I'll be happy to go wherever God sends us."
- Hamilton maintains that he knows nothing of the contract talks between the Rangers and his agent Mike Moye, writes Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. The outfielder also boasted of his impressive production in limited games versus the numbers of others in full seasons.
- Jim Bowden suggests Hamilton’s next contract will pay him $23-26MM per season in a piece at ESPN.com. Bowden expects Hamilton to sign a deal that includes vesting options to protect his team from off-field issues or injuries.
- Hamilton has said he'll talk to the Rangers first if he reaches free agency after the season, Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com reports.
- The Rangers have reopened negotiations and are discussing a long-term deal, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports. However, the team remains wary of handing out a contract such as the ten-year, $240MM deal Albert Pujols obtained or the nine-year, $214MM deal Prince Fielder obtained.
- Following yesterday’s performance, three general managers told Passan they’d have trouble giving Hamilton much more than six years, even if he plays a full, healthy season in 2012. GMs believe Hamilton may end up seeking a shorter-term deal at a higher average annual value.
- Though Hamilton’s asking price is on the rise, he downplayed contract talk, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick. "I'm under contract with the Rangers for this season and that's the way I'm treating it," Hamilton said. "I'm getting paid to play baseball for the Rangers and I'm going to give them everything I've got and try to do the best I can for them."
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says last night wasn't about contract talks. "This was a night to celebrate one of the most gifted athletes ever to play the game, to revel in who he is, right now."
- Hamilton's past addiction and health issues make it tough for the Rangers to commit to him long-term, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
Not one to knock a truly gifted player.. Say Hamilton goes on and hits 45-48HR, Drives in 130 runs or so.. Even then, Texas is probably making a mistake offering up 8+ years 22-25m+ and *IF* they don’t, some of the Rangers fanbase that doesn’t understand the logistics and long term feasibility and risks will be all over them, just seeing the short term loss.
One cannot envy the Rangers FO here. They finally get to join the “big boys” here and see what it’s like to over pay to keep a home town star who will clearly be on the downside once his contract is half way over.
I wouldn’t worry about any contract. Josh is worth $20 mil per season if any player is. A contract can be worked to protect the Rangers with clauses on injury
And clauses for performance–ie games played
isnt’t MLB working on preventing (or banning) these sorts of things from happening? incentives aren’t figured into account when determining the luxury tax since incentives aren’t guaranteed money. or something along those lines.
MLB just banned personal service deals (e.g. hotel, season ticket perks, other incentives in deals that AREN’T money).
Incentives are still legal, but they are factored into luxury tax considerations, IIRC.
I might be wrong though.
“I might be wrong though”
Nope.. U R correct.
It’s going to be very interesting, as this topic has gone already and interesting to get your point on the upcoming Hamilton contract also Melonis.
1- 24-26MM AAV isn’t happening. It just isn’t. Normal hitter aging curves make that a bad idea, let alone with his injury history (even if the Rangers get protections if he relapses). He’s also not going to touch Pujols AAVs, especially since Pujols in his prime was a far better player than Hamilton (and Pujols had a longer prime and didn’t start declining until last year). if he didn’t have injury and age working against him, then easily.
2- Any deal with more than 130MM total value is a bad idea. My guess is he stays with Texas, since he’s found a home there in addition to the fact that if it comes down to overpay time, texas can match any offer any other team throws at him.
Am with you on that.. Was thinking along 22-25m tops. It’s the years was wondering where you were thinking along the lines of.
I don’t generally like to go there.. Some here take those and just go.. Well, wild is the word. I figured 8 is just too far and cannot see that. I am seeing 6Y as tops guaranteed for Hamilton. *Maybe* 6y and a couple of team options and 22-25m.
Oh I totally agree with you there. It’s just how much longer? 3 seasons? 4 seasons? we don’t know how much longer he can put up those all worldly numbers.
Not knocking the guy at all and just throwing out this name here ok? Jason Bay.. He fell off of a cliff over night.. What if that happened to Hamilton? What if Hamilton, with say 4/88m left on his contract had that happen to him? How bad would that hurt Texas?
4/88 with one or two team options with production and health bonuses included would be perfect in my opinion.
I think that’d be good but I assume he would want a few more years. I would say 6/120.
He’s saying 4 years and 88 million left, not that being the total contract.
That’s what I’m saying would be a good contract. 22 plus bonus’ could be enough to land Hamilton and 4 guaranteed years plus two options years benefits Texas long term.
sounds like you knocking him to me. a little pathetic and jealous i suspect
8 years 140 million. Retires as a Ranger.
Add another 100 million and you have a deal.
How come they don’t make these ten year contracts guaranteed for say the first six years and then incentive laden the other four years? That way they would be paying for production. I think players are reasonable enough to understand…
because technically the only incentives you can put in a contract are plate appearances or award finishes.
In PA, he might be healthy but just not performing, so it wouldn’t really protect the rangers. Unless they sit or cut him, which would be a conspiracy, a la frank thomas
Oh, I wasn’t aware you can’t have incentives for any category. I’m so sick of these ten year contracts though, I mean players are probably pressured by the union to accept the ten year deals but its the fact that team owners actually give out these contracts that is troubling. I’m not sure if they think $20million in ten years will not be worth as much and base their decisions on that. I hope these contracts start to backfire and then teams become more hesitant about giving out such deals. Josh Hamilton is 30 so really anything longer than a 5-6 year deal would be a huge risk.
I agree with you. Why is there such big of a need to give 10 year contracts? There’s no guarantee they will be as good in 5 years, heck let alone next year. Give the guy 4-6 years of a contract with a bunch of millions. Everybody is happy
Eleventy billion dollars, mwah ha ha
He’s worth wayyy more but in the end I see him signing a 6 year deal worth about 130 mm.
I like the years and figures as a max on the Rangers end, only think Hamilton will want more unless he can test the FA waters 1st and see he cannot get it, or only a year or 2 more at a less AAV.
Edit:
Should say like the max by Texas before he hits the market. I could maybe see them going higher afterward if the market explodes, but i am not sure it will. That depends on how the base erupts and hopefully their decision on retaining him will not be a reaction to that.
I obviously don’t know Josh, and cant think for him, so this is just an educated guess.
but After all Josh has been through, he probably is less concerned about the money and more concerned about the best fit for him and his family.
He’s put his life back together and found a home in texas, his teammates have really embraced him. I think the only way a deal isn’t reached is if they low ball him, which is kinda hard to do. Weaver took a pretty good deal to stay, I think Hamilton does the same.
I hope he stays.. Don’t get me wrong for pretty much the reasons that you described.. It’s taking a long time to get done though one would think for this marriage of convenience you would think?
well after Josh’s hiccup in the offseason, it put things on hold. I think the start to the season is encouraging and rangers now feel more confident that his off field issues are under control.
He has come out several times and said he is not taking a discount to stay. His famous “I don’t owe the Rangers anything” line. I think we will get a year less than what somebody else offers but not much more in the way of a hometown discount.
Still laughing about comparing Swisher to Hamilton, especially after last night. Funny too that it might pertain to the Yankees needing to trim payroll first, win second as their priorities these days.
Yankees should extend Swisher at 6/120 too!
You recall what happened the last time the NYY trimmed payroll in the late 80’s? The Union sued the owners for collusion and won… IOW?? I’ll truly believe the NYY cut payroll when actually see it.. They have had the highest payroll (am pretty sure) since FA began and ain’t about to stop now.
Will they retain Swisher? I think so, but not because he’s in the same class as Hamilton, they *need* to be thinking of Grandy soon who is in the same class (or close) and coming up with some semblance of a way of mainlining payroll in the 190m-200 payroll they currently have, as well as trying to fit Hamels in after this season.
I think you are wrong, and the Yankees are going to cut payroll. The new CBA gives them both the financial incentive and the “cover” to do it. Both of us, rooting for the teams we do, can understand why some free agents might be great elsewhere, but would be bad fits for our city. Yankees aren’t going after Hamilton, they aren’t going after Hamels, and I’d bet they aren’t going to re-sign Swisher either. I think they are going to retool on the fly, and if they make the playoffs (extra wild card spot and all) great, and if they don’t, they don’t.
After the last few years, I bet the Reds are glad they decided to keep King Griffey Jr and Adam “one tool” Dunn and trade Josh Hamilton for Edinson Volquez. Yep, that seemed to work out well for them…..
And they made up for that by signing Votto for a 10-year extension…ha
Yes and how has THAT worked out so far…. The Reds are one game over .500, have been playing mostly teams with sub .500 records and haven’t had any significant injuries to position players AND Votto’s contract extension goes into affect a couple of years from now.
Look, the Reds are losers for a reason….no well thought out plan.
A few years ago, all I heard or read was that the team NEEDED pitching (instead of getting rid of Home Run hitters who COULD NOT play defense). So, when they HAD the chance to draft Tim Lincecum what did they do? Drafted Drew Stubbs.
So, they NEEDED pitching, could have had Lincecum but drafted a power hitting outfielder instead. Oh yeah, they paid the SAME amount of bonus to Stubbs as San Fran did to Lincecum.
Then what happens. The Reds STILL needed pitching so they traded Hamilton for Volquez.
Just think if they had drafted what they NEEDED (Lincecum), kept Hamilton, traded both Dunn and Griffey and USED the revenue sharing money on signing GOOD players (instead of guys off the scrap heap).
You don’t think the team record would have been better these last five years? You don’t think they would have made the Post SEason more often? You don’t think more fans wouldn’t have shown up for games?
But, being losers with no plan, they DID NOT do this.
They drafted what they already had enough of (Stubbs), traded Hamilton, kept Griffey Jr and Dunn and squirreled away revenue sharing money in a bank account and doles only a small portion of it out on BAD players while saying they couldn’t afford better palyers.
THEN, of course, when it came time for Votto and Phillips to get paid, they took that money they saved back and put it towards them while picking up MORE players off the scrap heap (Ludwick, Harris, Valdez).
The draft is never a sure thing and you would be also complaining about them sucking had they not extended Votto…You make it sound like all the GMs know the future. Its easy to say what they should have done years after it has happened.
This isn’t me sitting here in 2012, looking back and saying this, I have been saying this since at least 2009. Heck, there were a few people on the Reds chatboard who were saying they should have drafted Lincecum instead of Stubbs RIGHT AFTER THE DRAFT OCCURED.
No, it is the WHOLS mindset and thought process behind what the Reds do that is illogical and infuriating.
Have power hitters in the Outfield, need pitching but then draft a power hitting Outfielder.
Have other needs and not a lot of money (or so they said) but sign Francisco Cordero to a HUGE contract (thus not spending the money where it was needed) while the very next year there was going to be a glut of Closers on the market.
Use a poor start to the season (because his wrist injury was misdiagnosed and he was allowed to keep playing) as an excuse to dump Edwin Encarnacion (when his value was its lowest) so Jocketty could get whiner (Yes, he is a whiner. He whined his way out of Philly because of the fans. He whined his way out of St Louis because ofthe Manager. He whined his way out of Toronto because of his family. I am waiting to see what he whines about in Cincy, it certainly can’t be about a lack of playing time or respect.), Rolen on the team.
Meanwhile, if they had waited, they could have signed Adrian Beltre (who was/is younger than Rolen, just as good, if not better, than Rolen on Defense and who is LESS injury prone) and then traded EE.
Again, the theme of the Reds has been to make illogical moves or to move too fast with a big play and then find that they could have done better if they had waited and thought things out more.
The Reds needed pitching in the year 2006 so therefore they should have… drafted only pitchers? Since they will all obviously help them immediately.
And what the hell was Kansas thinking that year? They needed pitching but why would they take Hochevar over Kershaw! The latter won the Cy Young…
It took a few minutes to figure out what is Dunn’s one tool and have yet to think of it as I do not believe striking out is a desirable skill to most teams.
I think he means his speed on the basepaths?
Mans a beast plain and simple! I see alot of negative comment about his off field life….its OFF FIELD!!! he isnt comming to the game messed up..hes obviously comming to the game and blasting HR’s! If Texas dont work out a deal…..hes gonna recieve ALOT of cash from just about any team in the league!
“comming”, “If Texas dont”, “recieve”
Somehow your condoning of his past off-field activities doesn’t come as a surprise.
Mark my word: 8/180 for bottom line.
I’ll bet you its signifcantly less.
Great job to Josh on hitting four home runs yesterday. The way he plays he deserves a large contract. Unfortunately because of his past his with drugs it will effect on how much and how long he gets paid.
Hamilton is going to be 32 by next season. Regardless of how good he is this season, he has proven to be fragile in his time in the bigs. Whoever signs him is going to be a sucker in the later years of that deal.
That’s how it is for every contract signed by every superstar nowadays…heck, even non superstars (Werth).
So who’s in the best position to sign him? Who’s the favorite?
1. Rangers, 2. Nationals 3. Dodgers/Braves
Maybe Giants? Zito’s contract is coming off soon and everyone knows they need a bat.
Nationals make no sense. they have the outfield corners taken up for years to come (werth/harper) and Hamilton is better suited in a corner, especially as he ages.
I would be OK with a contract that offered 5-6 years and just paid a high AAV. Anything to stay away from a 7-8 year commiment.
IMO, Hamilton is the most talented player in baseball. He’s older than most players would like to be entering free agency but I would certainly give this guy at least 5 years/100M guaranteed with a team option or two and a couple vesting options for the late thirties. Granted, he most likely wants security, so that could be tricky but Hamiltons talent alone – not including what he’s done the last few years – is reason enough to lock him up.
Honest question. We have a lot of young talent coming to key contract points early and soon because of the influx that came in around 5 years ago.
How are all these players going to fit inflated contracts (in terms of years/dollars and the growing market) on big market teams? You won’t see half theteams as players. You might see Baltimore and Wasington more active, but Washington has young players (Zimmerman, Strasburg, and Harper) they will need to think about.
You’ve got Hamilton and Hamels, and that’s just a quick thought (there are many more).