It’s not often that we see significant trades this early in the season, but special circumstances led to the deal that sent Josh Hamilton from the Angels back to the Rangers. Timing is not the only reason that the trade was unique; Hamilton’s sacrifice of guaranteed money is a rarity, too.
While reports are still emerging on the complicated arrangement, it appears that Los Angeles will save about $20MM over the next three years, while Texas will enjoy Hamilton’s services for only $6MM or so during that stretch. (For his part, Hamilton can now opt out of the last year of the deal, thus conveying some value to him, along with state income tax savings, in exchange for giving up some of his promised payout.)
So, let’s take a quick poll: how would you assess the trade?
Bad move by the Angels. This will come back to get them.
The Hamilton signing had already got them. They were lucky to find a taker, even under these terms.
It got them so much that they won 98 games and their division with him only playing half the season. While the Rangers have crumbled overnight.
Hamilton will not finish his contract in Texas….
Just doing what most good companies do. Dumping a non-performing asset and moving on. The mistake was signing him, think they had some protection with suspension should be go off the wagon. THis is Hamiltons last contract, so enjoy your last 3 years in MLB Josh, if you make 3 years living the bachelor life..
Huge bargain for the Rangers. You can hardly pay bench players the money that they will be giving him.
It was suiting for both sides of the deal given the way things have unfolded between Hamilton and the Angels, but it really didn’t have to come to this. The Angel’s miscues led to the Ranger’s gain in this case.
Million dollar talent, five-cent head. I hope Josh Hamilton gets his life on track personally because he will have a longer life without baseball than with it. What his comments tell me that he doesn’t have to be accountable to anyone so long as he knows how to manipulate everyone around him.
Wish the M’s took a flyer on Hamilton. Good deal for the Rangers.
I feel if Hamilton comes back and becomes productive it wont be a situation where you say that could of happened if only Anaheim kept him. He would of been un productive here in Anaheim no matter what, good move for both teams and now everyone can move on
This is a good deal for both sides. The rangers are assuming little risk in the off chance Hamilton regains some of his old form and the Angels are getting a good amount of salary relief which will help with extensions and free agency. Also, it was pretty obvious Hamilton and the Angels wanted to part their relationship. Overall, a win for all parties involved.
The Angels are getting almost no salary relief. With the money they’re saving per season, they could maybe afford a middle reliever.
Salary relief for luxury tax purposes
Neither side wanted the other anymore, and the Halos are saving ~$20 million. That’s pretty good.
This is all on Josh Hamilton. He messed up. He’s paying the price. The Rangers may be the best place for him to get his life back together. But this is probably his last chance. And it’s not a matter who got the better of what. This is what had to happen. And it’s best for both clubs.
And it was handled incredibly poorly by the Angels. I’ll just venture a guess that if Hamilton had a 1.000 OPS that he’d still be an Angel.
He messed up, but the Angels are paying the price, not him.
This deal came about the way I predicted back when the news broke of Hamilton’s relapse: that the only way he would come back to Texas is with the Angels paying 80% or more of his way and that’s what happened. It is a one-sided deal for Texas since they gave up nothing except a token sum in return. The Angels and their fans can paint this as a win-win, but I think Josh’s remaining salary stays on their books til his contract ends and it will still keep them from making any big moves in free agency. That and Josh putting up decent numbers in Texas will make this trade a lose-lose for LA.
A win for both teams, because it doesn’t matter how well Hamilton performs in Texas. The Angels wanted him gone no matter what. He was a huge distraction and it was becoming a PR disaster. If we were judging this trade from a purely on-the-field production standpoint, then sure, it’s awful for the Angels. But that was not their primary motivator, and I have to stretch my imagination really far to see a situation where the Angels end up regretting this one.
It only became a PR disaster whenever the Angels decided to air their dirty laundry and issues with Hamilton all in the public. There was no reason to agree with what Hamilton did, but there were many better ways of handling this better than how they did.
Agree 100% with you, Charlie.
Why wouldn’t the Rangers just wait for him to get released? It seemed they could have had him for the league minimum. No?
The Angels, even as disfranchised with him as they were, were not going to cut Hamilton. At that point, they would have been stuck with his salary still and be able to recoup even less than they have received with this deal.
I’m guessing the powers that be (MLB and the Union) worked to find a landing spot. If given no other options, the Angels may have been likely to pursue legal remedies.
Rangers win because of the money involved for them. No way the Angels are benefitted in any way. That’s a lot of money they just paid for Hamilton to pack a U-Haul
The Angels will save 20 mil over the next three years. That, itself, is a win for the Angels. There is no guarantee Hamilton will ever return to his old self, so the Angels did well by getting rid of him.
None of the above. Angels copped out by not persuing legal action. The Rangers are enabling.
It will be a good trade if Hamilton keeps himself clean like he seemed to do the first time around in Texas. The baseball aspects of this move seem irrelevant.