Josh Hamilton - 2013 free agent

[oneupper]

Originally Posted by LegallyMinded

Also, I do agree with some of the above posters that Hamilton will likely get offered a long term deal, but I wonder if he'd actually prefer a short-term contract to try to rebuild his value in light of his recent struggles.

Interesting point, but at this point, with his history (addiction AND injuries), if someone offers him 100 mm or more (reasonable length), he'd be foolish NOT to take it.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by oneupper

Interesting point, but at this point, with his history (addiction AND injuries), if someone offers him 100 mm or more (reasonable length), he'd be foolish NOT to take it.

That's exactly right. I know I wouldn't touch him with his age and his history of drug problems. That was a big reason I was never that unhappy that Reds traded him. Just a huge risk for anyone to take on. But someone will.

[Tommyjohn25]

Anyone else see him flipping out on both his 1st and 3rd base coaches a few nights back? Strange.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by REDREAD

I tend to agree.. although in all honesty, it makes more sense to blow that kind of money on someone like Hamilton with MVP potential than someone like Werth/Crawford. Someone is going to give him a monster contract, no doubt.

That last Padres TV deal has me thinking.. I wonder if 20 million/year players are going to be considered cheap in the future? It wasn't long ago that Marge created an uproar among owners for making Eric Davis the highest paid player at <gasp> 3 million/year. lol (Not a comment on Marge, but 3 million/year used to be considered exhorbitant).. Also, I think the Reds were one of the first teams to have a known bench player make over 1 million/year when they traded for Glen Braggs, intending to use him as a 4th OF.. I remember people saying.. OMG.. how can they pay 1 million/year for a bench player
Times have changed.. I expect if all the clubs get a boatload of TV money, salaries are going to escalate again.

Back then the Reds along with the Oakland A's were among the leaders of MLB in team payroll. Don't count on those days ever coming back

[Sea Ray]

I wonder if the M's go after him? They've seen first hand what kind of player he is and they have the $$ to spare. I do think Hamilton would be foolish to sign on for playing half his games in that ballpark though

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by Tommyjohn25

Anyone else see him flipping out on both his 1st and 3rd base coaches a few nights back? Strange.

I saw it. It was strange. I heard on some telecast,maybe MLB Network,him and his wife are on the outs. If they divorce he is going to lose a big chunk of that support system he has. That could be a really big red flag on him.

[RedsManRick]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

MLB teams don't have that sort of restraint. Where'd you get the idea that they do? He'll get many more years than 2

We'll see. I don't think he'll get the $/year he wants in a longer term deal. I could see his agents suggesting that he could either take a 4 or 5 year deal now that may very well be his last or he could take a bigger per annum 2 year deal now and still get a 4 or 5 year deal two years from now.

I certainly wouldn't bet on any specific outcome here; just a hunch.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by RedsManRick

We'll see. I don't think he'll get the $/year he wants in a longer term deal. I could see his agents suggesting that he could either take a 4 or 5 year deal now that may very well be his last or he could take a bigger per annum 2 year deal now and still get a 4 or 5 year deal two years from now.

I certainly wouldn't bet on any specific outcome here; just a hunch.

He's not going to wait on any long term deal. There's no better time than now for him to get that. I'm thinking a 5 yr deal minimum

[AtomicDumpling]

I will take a shot and predict 7 years and $150 million. It only takes one team that feels he is worth it to make it happen.

[Matt700wlw]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

I saw it. It was strange. I heard on some telecast,maybe MLB Network,him and his wife are on the outs. If they divorce he is going to lose a big chunk of that support system he has. That could be a really big red flag on him.

That definitely wouldn't be good...

[cincrazy]

I wouldn't touch Hamilton with a 10 foot pole at this point. The mistake wasn't in trading Hamilton. Volquez just didn't work out. Not a bad risk by the Reds IMO, although it can certainly be argued they could've targeted a better package.

Hamilton is a huuuuuuuge risk, performance wise and off the field wise. A team would be CRAZY to give him 100 million over the life of a contract, but it's probably going to happen.

[mattfeet]

Originally Posted by hebroncougar

Oh, Victorino's deal will pale in comparison to Hamilton. You see what teams thought of him at the trade deadline.

I think Victorino's AAV will undoubtedly be lower than Hamilton's, but it will far surpass Hamilton's next contract in years. At this point in Shane's career, I think that carries more weight.

-Matt

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by AtomicDumpling

I will take a shot and predict 7 years and $150 million. It only takes one team that feels he is worth it to make it happen.

That sounds about right. He'll get his money. It's just a matter of how long teams are willing to sign him for.

[Vottomatic]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

I saw it. It was strange. I heard on some telecast,maybe MLB Network,him and his wife are on the outs. If they divorce he is going to lose a big chunk of that support system he has. That could be a really big red flag on him.

That makes me sad. I wanted to see him beat his problem.

But I was okay with the Reds trading him because I wasn't confident he would beat it.

And with the news from your post, it looks like a case can be made that if he divorces, and support system weakens, that he might weaken. Definitely sends up a caution flag and means the jury is still out on him relapsing.

[Tornon]

I heard that the thing with his wife was just speculation networks threw out there after he said there was a problem but he didn't specify what it was. I think the whole reason he admitted his tobacco issue was so people would stop thinking things were going poorly with his wife

Edit - This from his player profile on Yahoo: Hamilton admitted that the non-physical issue he has been dealing with the past two months has been a battle to stop his use of smokeless tobacco, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Hamilton was forced to address the issue after speculation began to run wild that his marriage was in jeopardy after he made some cryptic comments late last week. Hamilton drove in four runs Thursday but collected just one hit and struck out twice Friday. Perhaps the revelation will allow Hamilton some peace of mind, but he's still going to have problems at the plate if he continues to chase pitches well out of the strike zone.
(Rotowire.com)