Earlier today, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton underwent the season-ending knee surgery that the team had previously announced, but as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes, he required not only a repair of his left meniscus (which was previously known) but a reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee as well. Per Wilson, the surgeon who performed the surgery, Dr. Walt Lowe, had cautioned the team that an ACL repair might be necessary last month. He wasn’t certain, however, until seeing the extent of the damage to the ACL first-hand during today’s operation.
Hamilton was already known to be out for the season, but Wilson speculates that the new injury could not only end Hamilton’s time with the Rangers, but could ultimately spell the end of his career. The Rangers have a number of outfield options on the books for next season — Shin-Soo Choo, Delino DeShields, Nomar Mazara and, potentially, Joey Gallo and Lewis Brinson — and the team is only on the hook for $2MM of the $30MM that Hamilton will receive in the final season of his five-year, $125MM pact. (The Angels, who initially signed Hamilton to that deal, will pay the remainder.) As such, it’s possible that the Rangers could simply elect to release Hamilton and let younger alternatives receive the bulk of the time in the outfield next year, according to Wilson. Then again, GM Jon Daniels did voice back in May that the team was committed to Hamilton for the 2017 season.
There’s a chance that Hamilton could be ready for Spring Training next season, but the 35-year-old’s ability to recover from such a massive knee operation at this stage of his career remains to be seen. If he is indeed ready for the spring, however, it’s hardly inconceivable that he could latch on with a new club on a minor league pact.
Hamilton’s best years as a Major Leaguer came with the Rangers, highlighted by his 2010 AL MVP honors, and he returned to the club after a dramatic split with the Angels. Hamilton made an immediate impact with the Rangers in returning to Globe Life Park last season, doubling in a two-hit game in his first home game with Texas and then homering twice in his second game back in Arlington. However, his ultimate contributions to the 2015 Rangers were more modest, as he batted .253/.291/.441 with eight home runs in 182 trips to the plate before hamstring and knee injuries brought his season to an early end.
The Rangers have managed to thrive in spite of the loss of Hamilton, nearly a full season-to-date without Choo and significant regression from DeShields thanks largely to the emergence of Mazara (a strong Rookie of the Year candidate) and the the brilliant play of shortstop-turned-outfielder Ian Desmond. If Choo isn’t able to return to health and/or DeShields continues to struggle, the Rangers could eventually turn to Gallo and Brinson, though the latter has struggled in Double-A in 2016. Gallo isn’t a natural outfielder, but with the Rangers having extended Adrian Beltre for another two seasons, it seems all but certain that he’ll be required to move off of his natural position, third base, if he is to factor into the Rangers’ long-term plans.
A few weeks into the season people were calling the Desmond signing a failure. Not only is it not looking like a failure, but a pretty genius move by Daniels.
It wasn’t a failure to begin with. The only way I can see it being a failure is him being originally a shortstop moving to outfield (at the time of the signing). But them signing him to a one year deal and him doing pretty good has made this signing look better than expected
The failure was Ian not accepting the 7/$100m extension only to sign a 1/$8m (or whatever it is) and having to change positions…
I thought it was a failure, but he has a chip on his shoulder and set out to prove everyone wrong. So props to him making the best of his current situation and props to rangers for seeing opportunity. I do agree with SoCalShu that he should have accepted the Washington extension.
Is there an insurance policy covering his contract? Would the Angels benefit financially from him not playing again?
I would imagine there was some sort of insurance taken out at the time of the contract signing. I believe I read somewhere one time that most baseball insurance policies state that there either has to be a specific amount of time away from baseball activities, or retirement papers have to be filed with the league office before a claim could be made against the policy. Imagine Hamilton would say he was rehabbing for all of 2017 to get the last $30M, but I could be way off.
If he filled retirement papers, then there wouldn’t be a need to file for the insurance considering he would effectively be forfeiting the remainder of his contract.
Padam is correct. If Hamilton has not retired then his contract has to be paid, even if he’s injured, etc. Think about Marco Scutaro, who went two seasons without playing without announcing his retirement because he didn’t want to give up the money he was owed. There are some instances of a player negotiating his retirement during a multi-year contract, like Michael Cuddyer did this offseason, leaving money on the table but getting a few million dollars from the Mets.
As far as insurance on the contract, I think, like most insurance, some players and contracts are harder to insure than others, and Hamilton, with his past history of drug abuse and addiction and lengthy injury history, as well as his expensive contract, would probably be a hard one to insure completely.
thats not going to happen
Desmond is playing for a new contract. I don’t know if Rangers are looking to extend. I rather doubt it with so many young OF’s. But he’s given TX a solid RH bat and surprisingly good defense. He just made a great throw tonight to get a runner at the plate. TX might have to wind up eating Fielder’s contract. He’s not hitting and the other night he looked bad at first.
“…the other night he looked bad at first.” Prince Fielder has never looked “good” at first.
The Rangers roster is overflowing now, but a couple of these guys will be trade bait for another starter or a pure closer at the deadline. The Rangers need to look ahead to the playoffs and make sure they can protect leads and have 3 too starters. Too bad the Rangers can’t trade guys like Fielder and Choo.
Feel bad for josh with injuries relapses god luck going forward
The HR derby in Yankee stadium was a sight to behold. Hamilton had such a great comeback story. But ever since that guy died when he tossed him a ball, Hamilton has been a lost cause.