Out of Left Field

Josh Hamilton and Talking

by Matthew Kory

Josh Hamilton is one of the big storylines of the offseason. Where will he end up? Will he sign with [team x]? Maybe! Maybe not! Possibly maybe not! That’s about the best we can say on the matter. Maybe someone knows, possibly, but probably not.

I just used the words “maybe” and “possibly” a total of six times. That sums things up. We know why. Hamilton’s is one of the oddest free agent cases in recent memory. A supremely talented yet supremely flawed player, he’s old but not that old, appears excellent defensively but he’s possibly poor at defense. Then there’s the near unprecedented (for free agent baseball players) matter of his personal problems. It adds up to a player who could end up just about anywhere.

Oh, and there’s the price. BP’s own John Perrotto reported Hamilton is seeking a seven-year, $175 million contract. That would be the ninth-biggest ever, slotting in between Mark Teixeira’s $180 million deal with the Yankees and C.C. Sabathia’s $161 million deal with the Padres. That number is going to limit the pool of suitors*.

*The whole idea of using dating terms to describe free agents and their prospective teams reached its zenith yesterday when the Orioles were described as being “in hard” on Adam LaRoche. Presumably that is better than being “in deep” on Adam LaRoche, which would possibly upset him and his wife and therefore inhibit a team’s ability to sign him. Also it’s gross.Though only slightly grosser than “in deep.” That’s gross too.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, eight teams have been connected to Josh Hamilton over the past month. All of them have been mentioned more than once. So let’s take a look at those and a few other possibilities and put some arbitrary-ish numbers on it, shall we? No? Well I’m doing it anyway.

The Eight

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