Major League Baseball

Can Josh Hamilton go home again?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:47 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Depending on your vantage point, the trade of Josh Hamilton from the Angels to the Rangers could be framed as a welcomed reunion of a player and team that achieved unprecedented success together, or a forced divorce between a man who had a self-reported lapse in judgment and an employer showing little understanding of his ongoing grapple with addiction. No matter your take on the situation's politics or science, this much can't be disputed: Hamilton and the Rangers aren't exactly conjuring up memories of their MVP-winning, World Series-contending glory days.

Hamilton, 34 later this month, hasn't played in 2015 while recovering from offseason surgery on his right shoulder. During his tenure in L.A., Hamilton displayed little of the hellacious power that earned him the 2010 AL MVP, five All-Star selections and scouting comparisons to Mickey Mantle. Adjusting for park and league factors, Hamilton's OPS tumbled from 37 percent above the MLB average in Texas to just 10 percent above average with the Angels. That doesn't cut it for a $25 million-a-year corner outfielder lacking superb defensive and baserunning skills.

The Rangers, meanwhile, are coming off their worst season since the Reagan administration and are already buried in the AL West standings in 2015. They've got the AL's worst park-and-league adjusted offense. With aces, prized prospects, and big-ticket free agents alike injured or underperforming, Texas is far removed from its back-to-back Fall Classic appearances in 2010 and 2011.

And so we've come to this, with the Angels sending Hamilton and a $68 million severance check to Texas. It's worth a shot for the Rangers, given the minimal financial commitment and their paucity of power-hitting alternatives. But for this to be a happy reunion, Hamilton must prove he's got more left in his body and bat than he showed since he initially left the Lone Star State.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball