Hamilton for Volquez - then & now

[westofyou]

This is dogmazone, isn't it?

About baseball yes, about drug use no.

[TRF]

It was relevant for about 10 posts then it spiraled into a dogma discussion on personal POV's

nah, that's reserved for Adam Dunn threads and the evils of strikeouts.

Perhaps it devolved a bit, but imagine the discussions WK had with his advisors prior to the trade. Had to be similar with guys going back and forth on whether the risk of keeping him out weighed the risk of acquiring a "toolsy" pitcher. How we as people perceive addiction was the centerpiece of this trade, even moreso than the skills each player possessed.

[SMcGavin]

he's this

.312/.372/.544 in 2000 trips to the plate, he's good but hardly a once a generation player.

Exactly.

[Razor Shines]

Are people actually comparing Volquez's "drug use" to Hamilton's?

I've seen people on here call Volquez "immature" before, well then what do you call Josh Hamilton? Folks, last year Josh Hamilton blamed his drunken night at the bar on the bartenders. He said the bartender wanted to get him drunk and take pictures of him. That's not immature?

.

Do you have a link for that? I wasn't aware of it. I google'd "Josh Hamilton blames bartender for relapse." Your post above was the third listing. The first two didn't mention anything about him blaming anybody but himself.

He did say:

“I wasn’t mentally fit or spiritually fit,” he said. “It just crossed my mind ‘Can I have a drink?’ Obviously, I can’t. One drink leads to two and two drink leads to 10 or 12. When I was in AA, one saying I heard was one drink is too many and 1,000 is never enough. Alcohol just doesn’t mix well with me.”

The photos show Hamilton dancing with girls, licking whipped cream off one, and having whipped cream licked off him in another. According to the report on Deadspin, which cited unnamed sources, Hamilton asked where he could also purchase some cocaine. Hamilton said details of the night remain foggy, but wouldn’t be surprised if he asked the question. He is, however, tested three times a week for recreational drugs, including cocaine and has apparently passed every test. Before the January incident, Hamilton had been sober October 2005 after being suspended on multiple occasions by MLB for failed drug tests. Alcohol, however, is not on the list of substances for which Hamilton is tested.

“When I drink, it always tends to lean that way,” said Hamilton, whose drink of choice in the past was Scotch. “As far as I know, I don’t believe I [took drugs].”

Hamilton said, however, that he spoke with everyone in his “support staff” immediately after the night to make them aware of the situation and to apologize. That support staff, includes the Rangers front office, After Care counselors who work with MLB’s Drug Abuse prevention program and his family. Hamilton and Daniels both said they were aware the story might eventually find its way to the public, but opted not to be proactive in addressing it.

http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/20...ol-in-january/
Seems to me that's as about as mature as one could handle the situation. Maybe he did blame the bartender but I haven't found it yet.

[WVRedsFan]

My position on this is well documented. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. Volquez' 4.38 ERA, inconsistency, and the injury to his arm (a major argument for the trade was that Hamilton was often injured) has made the trade a win for the Rangers. At this point, it really makes no difference. Both clubs have made the post season. I am one of those who really doesn't expect much from Volquez as time goes by and Josh is continuing to kill the ball in Texas. He would have been the perfect left fielder this year, but...

[paintmered]

See the non-baseball forum for the discussion on dealing with drug addiction.

[Matt700wlw]

Will probably always be on the fence about it.

Can you imagine Hamilton's bat in the lineup with Votto, Rolen, Stubbs, and Bruce? His arm in the outfield?

[OnBaseMachine]

My position on this is well documented. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. Volquez' 4.38 ERA, inconsistency, and the injury to his arm (a major argument for the trade was that Hamilton was often injured) has made the trade a win for the Rangers. At this point, it really makes no difference. Both clubs have made the post season. I am one of those who really doesn't expect much from Volquez as time goes by and Josh is continuing to kill the ball in Texas. He would have been the perfect left fielder this year, but...

Volquez has a 3.62 ERA and 9.3 K/9 in 308.1 innings with the Reds. Just curious, why don't you expect much from Volquez in the future? I don't get it.

[edabbs44]

Will probably always be on the fence about it.

Can you imagine Hamilton's bat in the lineup with Votto, Rolen, Stubbs, and Bruce? His arm in the outfield?

Theoretically it sounds very interesting, but it is kind of like the butterfly effect. You can't just slide Hamilton in the lineup like a video game and just add production. You really don't know what this team would look like.

[edabbs44]

Volquez has a 3.62 ERA and 9.3 K/9 in 308.1 innings with the Reds. Just curious, why don't you expect much from Volquez in the future? I don't get it.

I guess it depends if you believe that his 1st half 2008 was really him or maybe just a product of a hot stretch in a new league. His numbers are a lot different if you remove those 3 months.

[Matt700wlw]

Theoretically it sounds very interesting, but it is kind of like the butterfly effect. You can't just slide Hamilton in the lineup like a video game and just add production. You really don't know what this team would look like.

Very fair point.