In the press conference announcing the deal that sent Josh Hamilton from the Angels back to the Rangers, the slugger explained that he wishes he never left Texas, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. GM Jon Daniels, who explained that it was “a pretty easy decision” to add a player of Hamilton’s ability. (Though he did not say so explicitly, the slight investment required obviously played a significant role.) For his part, Hamilton expressed disappointment with how his tenure with the Angels ended, saying that he had worked hard there even if the results were disappointing.
We already ran some early reactions to the deal before it was finalized. Here are some more notes and reactions from around the game:
- Grant breaks down the support system and plan that the Rangers hope will allow them to keep Hamilton healthy and focused. In terms of timing, Hamilton will report immediately to extended spring training and head shortly thereafter to Triple-A for a rehab stint. The Rangers are targeting a return to big league action in mid to late May, says Daniels, with Grant pegging the club’s May 11-17 homestand as a possible debut.
- Before the deal was consummated with the Rangers, Hamilton used his no-trade protection to block a deal that would have sent him to a National League club, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter link). While that proposal would not have required Hamilton to give up any salary, the 33-year-old was willing to sacrifice cash to facilitate a return to Texas.
- Some players around the game are unhappy with the way the Angels handled Hamilton’s relapse, tweets Rosenthal. In particular, perceptions are that the club violated the confidentiality provisions of the Joint Drug Agreement.
- This deal is not really the win-win it is being made out to be, argues Rosenthal, who labels it “an ugly divorce, a forced second marriage, a series of events that never should have been set in motion.”
- Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer suggests that the Halos may have been acting with a higher purpose in making the deal, because there is a real risk that it will blow back from a baseball perspective.
- Relieving themselves of some $20MM in salary obligations does not make a Huston Street extension any more likely for the Angels, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. That decision will come down to the club’s assessment of the reliever’s worth, it appears; it is worth noting, of course, that Street has enhanced his value with an excellent start.
- My take: with Hamilton apparently determined to return to the Rangers, and the Angels committed not to continue their relationship, this was obviously the best that Los Angeles could do. Had the team simply cut bait with Hamilton, he would have been free to sign with the Rangers for the league minimum salary. Of course, it remains fair to debate whether the Angels could or should have given Hamilton another chance to make good on his deal, but the club did at least ensure that he landed in the best possible situation. For Texas, meanwhile, the move has plenty of upside — both on the field and in the ticket office — which more than justifies the marginal financial risk.
tanque
don’t forget he had a couple of bar flings in texas. hope he gets better but texas is not necessarily a better place for him.
MadmanTX 2
If Texas isn’t, I’d like to know where is. Is there a dry city/state in the country that has a MLB franchise?
East Coast Bias
No. There isn’t. That was his point. Any team he went to would have temptation.
Texas just has a stronger support system already set up for him. But the temptation will/would always be there, regardless of where he went.
stymeedone
With the drug addict manager gone, the support system may not be there anymore.
johansantana15
It is necessarily a better place. He is from Texas, got clean in Texas, and has a lot of support from family and friends in Texas. None of which is in Southern California or anywhere else in the country.
oz10 2
He is from North Carolina, got clean in Florida and North Carolina. The only correct part of your statement is that he has support from friends in Texas. His family is from North Carolina, which is not southern Cali but is somewhere else in the country.
johansantana15
Is there an MLB team in NC?
oz10 2
no, he started his career in Tampa Bay, then Cincinnati before coming to Texas though.
stymeedone
Maybe a minor league team would provide a less pressured environment. I’m sure NC has one of those.
stymeedone
What state did he get wasted in? excuse me, states.
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
Some players around the game are unhappy with the way the Angels handled Hamilton’s relapse… I don’t really care about ‘other’ players unhappiness.
They are getting paid a lot of money to do what they do.
Josh Hamilton is getting paid a king’s ransom to do what he does.
Plus, he didn’t uphold his side of the contract.
The arbitrator left Hamilton off the hook and here we are today.
The rest of the story is simply ‘white’ noise.
BK
Big Angels hand here. They were in their right to basically push him out, but basically having the highest management talk bad about him to the press was a terrible idea both strategically (as it reduced their leverage) and perceptually as it made them look like they had no empathy.
Tools_of_Ignorance
Arte Moreno knew he was signing a player with mental illness, albeit one that has handled it statistically SUPERIOR to most (in terms of relapsing – yes, look it up). Moreno knowingly bought the snake, and was appalled when the snake bit. Simple actuarial tables would have told Moreno to pass, yet hubris. Moreno is a disgusting human being for attempting to “take the high road” while making himself look deplorable.
stymeedone
I blame the players union. When Moreno put the language in the contract to protect the Angel’s liability should Hamilton have a relapse, both MLB AND THE PLAYER’S UNION approved the contract. If the drug language was in violation of the joint drug agreement, THAT WAS THE TIME, not now, that the Union should have stated their objection. Sure he bought a snake, but the union led him to believe he also had the anti-venom.
Robb Logan
I am an Angels fan, let me state that first. I am appalled at the way Arte Moreno handled this situation publicly. He embarrassed the team in general and hurt relations for future free agents with his statements. Moreno needs only to look into a mirror to know that if FA’s start avoiding the club he is the reason, plain and simple. Under no circumstances do you throw a player under the bus the way he did.
MadmanTX 2
Hopefully, the MLBPA will not let Arte Moreno off so easily, since he was likely the one who dropped a dime on Hamilton to the media about his relapse. At the very least, they can hopefully pressure players to only sign with the Angels if that team pays a premium to attract them to play there.
tanque
you are writing a novel. enjoy .150 hitting sponge hammer.
dan-9
Moreno’s a child, but it should not be the MLBPA’s job to coerce players one way or another. Their job is to represent and support the players, and they should do so even if they happen to disagree with a particular player’s wishes.
jb226 2
You’re right that their job is to support the players as a whole — which is precisely why sometimes they should be allowed to step in and refuse to allow a particular player to do something if it is a bad thing for others.
To take it out of a baseball context, I have always argued that unions should not protect poor employees because it is a detriment to the union as a whole. It is a large part of the reason that many people have issues with unions, and why they are beginning to disappear. Setting a precedent that a guaranteed contract is not actually guaranteed hurts the entire union and each player in it, so I have no problem with their ability to disallow such a practice.
That said, in this particular circumstance I believe the situation is unique enough and troubling enough that I also have no issue with them allowing it.
petcopadre
Moreno is the owner of the team. Hamilton is his employee. Moreno should not be chastised for speaking about one of his employees who violated his contract. His words were not as harsh as people make them out to be. He merely said he believed he had a right to terminate the contract and was going to pursue that avenue. What’s wrong with that? Why is Hamilton such an untouchable figure and his actions beyond reproach?
stymeedone
It also might have been the Union, knowing that Moreno would get blamed, and would take the focus off the fact the Union approved the contract.
ChuckMorris36
As a Red Sox fan, it doesn’t really matter how he does in my opinion. He could be the .290 40 120 guy or the .248 20 70 guy
Curt Green
As usual, the grass was not greener. We really don’t know what we have until it is not there.
guest_54
Jeff, you state this, “Of course, it remains fair to debate whether the Angels could or should have given Hamilton another chance to make good on his deal, but the club did at least ensure that he landed in the best possible situation.”
However, I’m wondering how much the team actually “ensure[d] that he landed in the best possible situation.” Weren’t their hands basically tied and the team forced to “trade” him to Texas as that seems to have been the ONLY team Hamilton would approve a trade and actually pay a portion of his contract?
More curious if you think the Angels were truly trying to look out for Hamilton’s welfare or if that was simply their only digestible alternative?
Yo Tega
The Angels didn’t have to trade him. They could have released him, or they could have played him. Either way, the deal lets Moreno almost wash his hands of Hamilton.
Steven Garrison
All of this shouldn’t of happened, Hamilton should of never been signed, I wonder how many angels fans like me would be saying that.
oz10 2
Angels fans were calling the Ranger’s fans idiots and that we gave up on our player and how stupid we were. Now you all get to act like you never wanted him? I don’t think so!
Steven Garrison
Well me, I was against the signing in the first place, they had plenty of offense with trout, pujols trumbo and kendrick at the time, All they needed was pitching not another bat. Arte should of let Dipoto do his job and sign the pitching that they needed. imo they should of gave torii hunter what he wanted, possibly go after greinke or anibal sanchez then fill the bullpen , and they would of been set.
East Coast Bias
The majority, at least on the site, were not happy about the Hamilton signing. Hamilton slumped hard the second half of his last season in Texas, so it’s easy to see why Angels fans would not be thrilled by paying handsomely for his services. Plus, they needed pitching.
stl_cards16
I’m going to guess Moreno isn’t going to feel like he’s washed his hands of Hamilton while still paying him $80MM.
stymeedone
I would have liked to have seen the Angels eat the contract, and refuse to release him. It would have been in Hamilton’s best interest to get away from the pressures of the game, they could have said. As long as they maintained his contract, he would not have been allowed to sign with another team. I’m sure Hamilton would have a hard time finding a Doctor to declare him “cured”, so they could have left him on the disabled list.
kdub53
yea but that’s a really expensive handwashing!!
Billy Branch
As a Yankee fan in Texas, I really don’t have a dog in the fight. But it’s interesting that after the latter half of the 2012 season after being unable to hit in day games, unable to focus because he decided to quit dipping and not feeling the need to hustle to catch a pop fly in the playoff game against Oakland and going on to have a further lackluster performance with the Angels how ‘baseball people in the know’ seem to think that he’s going to be what the Rangers need to jump start the season.
And the way he left the Rangers by flipping the big middle finger to the team combined with the shots he took at the fanbase when they booed him on his first series with the Angels in 2013 suggests that he is, quite frankly, dumb as a rock.
Even during his MVP season, he’s never struck me as someone who is particularly passionate about the game of baseball.
So, good luck with all of that Mr. Daniels. Hope it works out for you. But don’t be offended if I don’t hold my breath.
Kendall Cooper
But it’s so low risk that he doesn’t need to be anything above average…beyond that is just icing on the cake!
Billy Branch
That’s a good point. But from watching him struggle to his lackadaisical approach to those struggles combined how he critizised the Rangers at the Angels press conference to all of a sudden feeling that he’s home again is interesting.
Kendall Cooper
I, personally, did not take as much exception to what he said as most other Rangers fans did. I thought it was stupid In the fact that he didn’t need to say it, but it wasn’t necessarily awful. As long as he plays hard, which has been called into question and appeared like he wasn’t at the end of his tenure with the Rangers, the fans will be happy and he should be in a good mental state to perform.
Billy Branch
“As long as he plays hard, which has been called into question and appeared like he wasn’t at the end of his tenure with the Rangers, the fans will be happy and he should be in a good mental state to perform.”
Sure, as long he doesn’t walk into a Chile’s, sees someone drinking a beer and wind up in all night bender.
stl_cards16
Yeah I’m sure he never sees anyone drink in the time he does great with his personal battle. It’s not like he works in a place where thousands of people are drinking beer or anything…..
Billy Branch
yup
kdub53
Beer at UNBELIEVABLE low low prices!!
Kendall Cooper
That’s always a risk with an addict, but you could also say that for any player.
Billy Branch
He’s used cocaine within the last ninety days. I don’t think you could say that about any player.
Kendall Cooper
You still could, he just has a greater chance of that happening again.
Billy Branch
If there are headlines in the Dallas Morning News and Ft Worth Star Telegram tomorrow saying that a player for the Rangers was arrested for possession of cocaine, are you telling me that you’re going to suspect the story is about Shinn Choo Choo or Colby Lewis and not Josh Hamilton?
kdub53
Darryl Strawberry?
Mikenmn
Jeff-quick question on the CBA. Is there any way a team can simply hold a player, without releasing him, while continuing to pay him, but not play him? Must he be on the roster (assuming he’s not injured/DL)? And if he must be on the roster, and you have to pay him anyway, but you don’t really want him on the team, do you go shorthanded, or just make him sit?
Rally Weimaraner
No. Hamilton would have to be on the active roster or be designated for assignment.
Mikenmn
Well, I suppose he could just ride the pine, and be used as a late inning replacement if necessary. Would hurt the team from a roster flexibility point.
Lance
there’s no rule that forces a team to play anyone. but Mike is correct….if he’s just sitting on the bench, the team is playing with just 24 players and many of those are pitchers who couldn’t play anyway. plus, it creates a negative attitude on the team. Josh could be very grouchy and causing problems. Then there will be resentment that here’s a guy making $25 million dollars doing nothing.
stymeedone
Since addiction is supposedly a disease, I would think the Angels could put him on the DL for medical reasons. Unless Hamilton is able to find a doctor to state that his addiction is “cured”, they should be able to leave him there. If the Union wishes to argue, just going into his past history should show that as long as he plays the game, he is likely to relapse.
Rally Weimaraner
Headline might as well be Angels release Hamilton. Paying 84 MM for to ship him out isn’t really a trade.
Yo Tega
Yea…but they are saving $20 million overall on the deal. Not knowing the exact language of the trade, the Angels could still receive a player from the Rangers.
Steven Garrison
A player or cash, I would just take the cash because the player they could receive won’t be even worth picking up.
Yo Tega
As I remember the way “cash or ptbn…” clauses, these depend on traded player performance. The Angels may not have a choice (other than the prenegotiated players).
Steven Garrison
Angels fans like me, I was against the signing from day 1. At the time they had plenty of offense with Pujols , Trout , Trumbo , Kendrick. All they needed was pitching, they made the room to keep greinke but he left for the money. Then the next best thing was to sign hamilton, Arte should of let dipoto do his job to fix the rotation and the bullpen.
Steven Garrison
Hamilton should of never been signed in the first place, They had plenty of offense at the time, all they needed was pitching. Not sure how many angels fans would agree with me on this.
East Coast Bias
If you go back to the threads around the signing, I would say most agreed with you.
Steven Garrison
Yea, Now the angels have to deal with the fallout of it. I just hope it doesn’t damage the franchise from other players that would want to play for the angels. But if Hamilton lived up to the contract, I just wonder if all of this mess would be going on.
stl_cards16
“But if Hamilton lived up to the contract, I just wonder if all of this mess would be going on”
That’s a pretty easy answer. If Hamilton was still an All Star level player, Moreno would be behind him through all of this.
Steven Garrison
I think that can be debatable , but he was on the decline in the second half of 2012. Moreno should of stayed out of the way and let dipoto fill the holes in the rotation
stymeedone
I guess this means the drug addicted players will have to look elsewhere to sign. The Angels will be relegated to only signing players who dislike working with the wasted.
8791Slegna
Not saying that Artie Moreno’s actions are 100% agreeable in this situation, but I side with him. The man has spent money – not all of it wisely – to try and put a winner on the field, and most of those players like Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter were accountable enough to live up to those contracts even if there performance was not always equal to what they did with their previous teams. I trust Albert Pujols to do the same even though he won’t be the player he was in St. Louis. Some of the more vitriolic comments against Mr. Moreno seem to be more than about his handling of Hamilton though. I’m curious why he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt that a white owner would get. It’s something I’ve noticed since he bought the team a decade ago and has become quite evident in this incident.
stymeedone
He’s not white? who knew?
Steve_in_MA
This works around a very important issue. Are the clauses that many teams place in player contracts specifically enforceable? Hamilton agreed to a clause voiding the contract in the event he relapsed. Moreno should have been able to void the entire contract. The MLBPA acquiesced in a player reducing his salary. That’s a hint that even they recognize Moreno had an excellent contractual case here. All sides gave some to avoid litigating the issue, and that leaves this black hole out there for resolution on another day. While compromise is a nice thing, it would be better for everyone, other than the parties, if we had a firm ruling.
East Coast Bias
So, the question is, why would Moreno forego that lump sum of cash to not go to court? Public opinion?
If he had that clause in the contract, you are absolutely right he would have won that case. I don’t understand why Moreno did not fight it.
tanque
commissioner’s prodding?
Steve_in_MA
I have to think Moreno did not like the prospect of having to fight with the MLBPA over whether the clause was enforceable, and all of the bad publicity that might come from it. It could affect whether future F/A’s might be willing to sign with the Angels. It could hurt revenues to have a protracted news story about the litigation. He gave up $60MM to make this happen, so the incentives were powerful, whatever they may be.
stymeedone
I hope that in the future, when language is included in the contract that the Union finds to be counter to previous agreements, that they will point it out immediately, upon it being submitted for Union approval. This one was rubber stamped. I think the union allowed the reduction in terms because they knew they blew it on this one.
Steve_in_MA
Perhaps so. But if the Union blew it, they also modified any superseding contract by the act of rubber stamping it. Any contract can be subsequently modified, even if it specifically says it can’t, by the parties who made it. It is an interesting debate.
jb226 2
I don’t agree that allowing Hamilton to forfeit salary was necessarily evidence that the MLBPA believed Moreno would win. It’s a pretty unique situation, and Texas really is the best place for Josh Hamilton not only as a baseball player but as a human being with a disease he really needs to learn how to beat.
As far as my opinion on the overall question–and it is of course just that, my opinion–I believe the Angels did not have a case.
The CBA specifically states that “Should the provisions of any contract between any individual Player and any of the Clubs be inconsistent with the terms of this Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall govern.”
So, there is the CBA’s “supremacy clause.” The question then becomes: Is there a provision which would forbid a special covenant such as this?
I quickly scanned the CBA (it’s like 311 pages, so yeah, it was a scan!) . Attachment 42 would seem to be to be explicitly forbidding such a clause. It states: “This will confirm our agreement that Clubs and Players are prohibited from including as a Special Covenant to a Uniform Player’s Contract (‘UPC’) a provision that gives the Club the right to void a guaranteed year of the contract based on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain events.”
Additionally, the JDA (which was created separately but has the same effect of being part of the CBA all along) states: “All authority to discipline Players for violations of the Program shall repose with the Commissioner’s Office. No Club may take any disciplinary or adverse action against a Player (including, but not limited to, a fine, suspension, or any adverse action pursuant to a Uniform Player’s Contract) because of a Player’s violation of the Program.”
TL;DR: As a non-lawyer, I read this as saying: The CBA is supreme, the JDA is the exclusive authority for punishing players for drug abuse, the Angels would lose.
Steve_in_MA
Thank you for making one of the most well reasoned arguments about the situation that I have seen.
I’ll begin with the easy part. The JDA is inapplicable because voiding the contract is a negotiated-for contract right, not “discipline,” a “punishment” or an “adverse action.” That said, even if it were applicable, it would have the same problem that the CBA has, detailed below.
As the CBA speaks with specificity to the situation at hand, it does present the potential for a supremacy claim. The problem is, the MLBPA, the player, the league and the team all reviewed and ratified the contract that contains a forfeit clause for behavior such as Hamilton undertook, and they did so after the advent of the so-called supreme agreement.
Any contract can be modified by the actions of the parties to it, even if the supreme contract says it cannot be modified. We won’t delve deep into the Restatements on Contracts here, but there are requirements for having a modification by acting and by omission to act. They would seem to be met here.
Moreno would have a good argument that for the purposes of this particular player agreement, the union modified the CBA by ratifying it with the “void for malfeasance” clause contained in it.
That said, he would have to have been willing to have a huge fight to litigate it. And this is not the only such clause in a player’s contract. So we are left to make educated guesses as to what the arguments might be, and how a group of arbitrators might weigh them all.
An interesting debate.
white mamba
I don’t understand the pass Hamilton is getting from the media. He’s the one who used, then hid behind the blanket of the MLBPA, who are essentially enabling him. In hindsight, you can say Moreno shouldn’t have signed him, but for Hamilton to land with his salary intact, and essentially blame Moreno (“Arte Moreno knew what he was getting into”). I understand addiction is a brutal disease, but what we have here is an addict in denial. Why should Moreno get skewered for expecting a player to live up to the terms of his contract?
petcopadre
Chris Davis also gets a pass for his use of a banned substance. His face appears on MLB promos. Ryan Braun was once again the media darling for MLB. A-Rod is still getting hammered by critics and fans. Something is wrong with this picture.
petcopadre
Why the Moreno bashing? Why is Hamilton’s behavior beyond reproach and not subject to scrutiny? He used cocaine which affected his standing with the team! Why does he get a pass?
stoplyin2217
The one who let this get some footing is MLB leaders.. Blame Artie ,blame Josh . Remember players when your contract is up you call it a business. That is what Artie is doing .union wants more from Artie and ML:B bend to unions. Big money play hardball so quit crying for Josh,that he got raw deal .Artie could have taken him to court on broke contract. MLB punk out.
BravesFan 3
I am boggled that an NL team wanted him. It seems to me like he could be quickly destined for a DH spot.
padres2013
It was probably the padres trying to trade for him.
Erik
It’s real easy. Josh Hamilton makes millions of dollars to do a gig that most of us only dream about. Staying clean should be the least of his problems and if he’s truly in recovery this wouldn’t be hard to do. I know best of most people because I’ve been in recovery for over 12 years. If I can stay clean than so can multi millionaire Josh Hamilton.
jb226 2
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 40 and 60% of drug addicts relapse.
I am genuinely happy for you that you have managed to keep clean, and I hope that you continue to have success in the future. I am simply cautioning against assuming that your situation should be indicative of anybody else’s.
stymeedone
Its just that Josh had 125MM reasons to keep clean. If he didn’t like the language that Moreno put in the contract, and wasn’t man enough to abide by that language, he should never have signed the contract.
Erik
You really have to know the Josh Hamilton’s past. Of course all addicts suffer a relapse at one point or another but Hamilton has been through this since the beginning of 2000s. Relapse is no excuse after several years in recovery. It’s a borderline card to play at that point to make the situation look good. Anyone in recovery will tell you it’s all up to individual after years of sobriety once the grip is released. In Hamilton’s case he was clean for several years on his way back to the big leagues. Hamilton used drugs because he wanted too period. What a foolish decision from a person who has everything in the palm of their hands. I feel no sympathy for him at all.
stymeedone
When told that Moreno said that he was disappointed with Hamilton’s lack of accountability, Josh stated “I don’t know what he’s talking about.” Really!!!!???
I guess those commercials of “this is your brain on drugs” are accurate in Hamilton’s case.
Cam
Let’s hope a rehab stint at AAA is the last kind of rehab stint Josh sees full stop. Last chance saloon for this kid.
Paolo
The biggest winner in all this is Hamilton… He basically escaped a suspension by this loophole pre-emptive “self-reporting”, violated a bond he made with the Angels and suffered no financial consequences. Texas wins too… A minimal risk for a potential bat that they desperately need. Arte Moreno & the Angels, although rightfully PO’d, look insensitive and knee-jerk reactive.
toose
If you didn’t leave Texas, you never would have gotten that ridiculous contract!!