The Braves are intrigued by free agent outfielder Josh Hamilton, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports. He’s the top position player available in free agency at a time that the Braves are looking to replace the offense of Chipper Jones and, it appears, Michael Bourn.
However, Hamilton isn’t an ideal fit for a Braves’ lineup that already features a number of left-handed hitters in Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann. Plus, the Braves aren’t generally bidders on the top free agents, as Knobler notes. The Rangers made Hamilton a qualifying offer today, which means any team other than Texas will have to surrender a top draft pick to sign the outfielder. Hamilton ranks second on MLBTR’s list of top 50 free agents.
I’m pretty sure every single team out there is.
maybe they should take a look at ryan ludwick on a short term deal. maybe 2-3 years/7.5 million a year?
obviously in that situation though, you would still need a CF. maybe pagan or Victorino on a short term deal as well. 3 years at most. from there, shore up the rest of the bullpen and your depth with backups (like resigning ross on 2 years and fill out the rest of your bench. and then you say, we in there.
*Changes Free Agent Contest Prediction*
With Chipper and Lowe off the books, the Braves have money to spend.
change it back josh is not going to sign with atlanta…only way he even goes to atlanta is if he needs to switch planes
no kiddin tell us something we dont know already
atlanta is more likely to sign someone like pagan or trade for someone like denard span
Arb raises to Heyward, Prado, Hanson, Medlen, Venters, and O’Flaherty will use up at least $10-12M of those savings, so they might not have as much to play with as you think…certainly not enough to make a reasonable offer to Hamilton.
While I’d love to have Hamilton’s bat, it’s not even remotely practical for the Braves to spend that much on one player.
Who isn’t “intrigued” by Josh Hamilton? He’s one of the most expensive “High-Risk, High-Reward” players ever.
Red Sox
Come on, the Braves aren’t going to throw $100M at Hamilton
I’m intrigued by Angelina Jolie. Doesn’t mean I’m going to end up with her.
But you can still be intrigued…
Not. Gonna. Happen.
I wonder if Hamilton will be like stars before him that hit the market with questions and because of it signed smaller deals then the talent would warrant. Vlad’s deal with the Angels comes to mind, when he signed for 5/70m two years after Manny signed his 8/160m deal. Randy Johnson signing for 40m less than Kevin Brown in the same off-season is another example.
In today’s dollars, I’d say 5/110m is the above equivilent. Though if a team can absorb Carl Crawford and the 100m owed to him it’s hard to fathom some team not giving Josh Hamilton 6/150m. Why wouldn’t the Dodgers simply deal Ethier and sign Hamilton? I’m hoping we have baseball’s first 250m team.
All that said, I’d give the Braves 1/30 odds of signing Hamilton.
Rays are out, stros are out, cards, royals, and brewers too … All out. Pirates. Yankees are cutting payroll and have grandyman supposedly in left. Mets are bleeding cash and are wishy-washy on wright. 3 more eliminated. Braves have 1 in 22 shot now.
If I’m a sportswriter and can’t find anything to talk about, I’d go probably ask my local GM “hey, do you find Josh Hamilton intriguing?” “Uh…sure….I guess”
Article written. False rumor spread. Collect paycheck.
150+ Million for Hamilton. How much extra for his babysitter?
That’s why they got Jordan Schafer.
A .220 hitter is all this lineup needs.
That joke went right over your head didn’t it
Way over his head!
No, I get the joke. Schafer is an addict himself.
For what it’s worth, a Rangers beat writer just tweeted that, according to “a source that knows these things” Hamilton’s asking price is 7yrs/$175M.
Seriously, good luck with that Josh.
So youre telling me in the first day of the offseason, Hamilton is asking for a lot of money? Thats crazy. Never before has someone asked for more money than they really want when bargaining.
The price will come down—I think that it will eventually come down to 5/100 or even 5/90.
Danny Knobler i’m intrigued by this cat in my backyard that keeps staring at me
Hamilton- would he be a good fit in a clubhouse with Evan Gattis or Jordan Schafer? Gattis took a couple years off baseball and went to rehab during that time.