So, Josh Hamilton might've played his last game as a Ranger last night...

[notyourbuddy]

0$/0 years. People were critical of the fans booing Hamilton, but he gave up on that team and deserved it. Then there is that whole "vision blur from caffeine" thing that he claims is still bothering him. Maybe it is the caffeine or maybe he has other issues going on that he and the club aren't revealing; either way you don't pay 25$M per year to find out.

[Bradysburns]

If we could get Hamilton at 5/110, I would do that. It's amazing how fickle baseball is - the fans, the players, the game itself. This guy has committed the high crime of having a slump, and having some off-field issues that he has had to deal with. To me, when I look at Texas the team, it appears likely that Hamilton was carrying that team. Because apparently, a slumping Hamilton lost them the division, or so it would seem.

Just look at his statistics, and imagine if he really continued to mature and round into form under Buck's stern but fatherly guidance. Imagine him hitting at Camden, and the balls landing in the flag court. Imagine if the guy actually continued getting better in every way - instead of the doomsday fears people have about him.

That could very well be the reality - not the other stuff.

Hamilton is an unusual guy, obviously. He also had the weight of the world on his shoulders in Texas, and perhaps a team that lost something along the way... sort of like the Orioles of 1998-9... and so on. A veteran team that sensed, somewhere deep inside, that it missed its chance LAST year, and just crumpled.

Career OPS of .913. I think this is exactly the kind of guy you might be able to afford precisely BECAUSE of his "issues." If he didn't have those issues, there would be ZERO doubt the Yankees would back up the $200 million truck, or some other free-spending team would. I mean, you can absolutely forget Cano. That's a pipe dream if ever I heard one. We could actually sign Hamilton, and he just saw what a real team - a happy team - looks like. I think he'd be more inclined to sign here than ever before.

[Answerman]

I agree with Bradysburns. This might be the perfect storm for us to get Hamilton. And yes, I would be happy with 5/110. Our guys seem to feed off each other. When one hits a rope, they all seem to come to life. A real clean-up hitter who also hits for average would be huge. I agree that all our guys would be better - especially Reynolds, who gets really pumped when his mates go yard. Would love to add Hamilton's 40 dingers and another 40 from Reynolds. That would be some fun baseball!

[SerenityNow]

I know it got mentioned on the broadcast last night, but I'm really disappointed in Texas fans taking their frustration over the team out on Hamilton. It came off as really classless to me. Not as classless as, say, throwing garbage on the field during one of your greatest player's final game... but still, pretty awful.

I live in the Dallas area and the fans were not taking their frustration of the team out on Hamilton. It has come out over the past couple of months that he is not a great teammate and the coaches basically have to coax him on the field because he is always suffering from some ailment. Then he attributed his two month slump to God punishing him for his addiction to chewing tobacco.

Im sure the teams performance didn't help but there is more to the boos than meets the eye.

[Terpdawg32]

I live in the Dallas area and the fans were not taking their frustration of the team out on Hamilton. It has come out over the past couple of months that he is not a great teammate and the coaches basically have to coax him on the field because he is always suffering from some ailment. Then he attributed his two month slump to God punishing him for his addiction to chewing tobacco.

Im sure the teams performance didn't help but there is more to the boos than meets the eye.

I also live here in Dallas and didn't hear exactly that he thought God was punishing him because of his addition to chewing tobacco. It was that he was convicted of what he was doing and so he stopped in the middle of the season. Once he stopped, he wasn't able to focus like he used to. Anyway, you may be right, but I hadn't heard that exactly.

What Hamilton needs is someone to help him in the PR department. I said this in another thread, but this all started with the SI article earlier this season where he said he didn't owe the Rangers anything and he was going to go to the highest bidder. Starting right there, fans here started detaching themselves from him. Once this prolonged slump began and all the odd things like the chewing tobacoo and caffeine causing him to sit out of the lineup happened, it was just too much.

Last thought from me is that it's never ok to boo your own players unless they committed a crime or something. I understand the frustration of the fans, but I just think it's poor fandom to boo your own guys.

[SerenityNow]

I also live here in Dallas and didn't hear exactly that he thought God was punishing him because of his addition to chewing tobacco. It was that he was convicted of what he was doing and so he stopped in the middle of the season. Once he stopped, he wasn't able to focus like he used to. Anyway, you may be right, but I hadn't heard that exactly.

What Hamilton needs is someone to help him in the PR department. I said this in another thread, but this all started with the SI article earlier this season where he said he didn't owe the Rangers anything and he was going to go to the highest bidder. Starting right there, fans here started detaching themselves from him. Once this prolonged slump began and all the odd things like the chewing tobacoo and caffeine causing him to sit out of the lineup happened, it was just too much.

Last thought from me is that it's never ok to boo your own players unless they committed a crime or something. I understand the frustration of the fans, but I just think it's poor fandom to boo your own guys.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/19720339/hamiltons-personal-issue-is-chewing-tobacco-team-isnt-concerned-about-it

"There's disobedience and there's obedience to God. I've been being disobedient," Hamilton said a few days ago in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It may be a small thing to you, but it's a big thing to Him. There's consequences."

[blid]

He wilted in the game vs. us and committed that big blunder in the last game against Oakland.

But it might not be fair to look at that too heavily. Let's look at his Ks. What in blue hell happened to his K rate this season? Is that a warning sign?

[Ruzious]

He gets you roughly the same OPS as players like Josh Willingham, Corey Hart, and Mike Napoli - who all get paid under 10 mil a year. How bout finding guys like that for less than half the price of Hamilton?

[Basketeer]

He wilted in the game vs. us and committed that big blunder in the last game against Oakland.

But it might not be fair to look at that too heavily. Let's look at his Ks. What in blue hell happened to his K rate this season? Is that a warning sign?

Not necessarily. He might just need a change of scenery. A new manager/hitting coach can do wonders for a player. He could come here and not have to worry about carrying the team. Just slot him at clean-up and let him mash.

Would I want Hamilton on this team? Absolutely. Guy has the potential to be the most explosive player in the game. But only for the right price. He'll probably be overpaid.

[Ruzious]

OPS+ that is.

[Ampontan]

He could come here and not have to worry about carrying the team.

I don't understand this. Are you suggesting that he's worrying about carrying Texas now, and won't if he comes to Baltimore? Is our core minus Hamilton better than their core minus Hamilton?

Guy has the potential to be the most explosive player in the game.

Guy also has the potential to walk into a bar and start drinking at any time, and being so drunk he can't remember that we was looking to score crack. Like he did eight months ago.

And after reading that chewing tobacco story, I suspect he has the potential to do all sorts of strange things none of us can begin to imagine.

[El Gordo]

He's an unstable person because of his addictive personality. He needs structure and support. Leaving TEX will remove a lot of that and place him under emormous stress. I wouldn't take a chance on him.

[xKHx]

He's an unstable person because of his addictive personality. He needs structure and support. Leaving TEX will remove a lot of that and place him under emormous stress. I wouldn't take a chance on him.

Do you not think Buck could support him?

[Moose Milligan]

I'm a bit more wary of wanting to do what it takes to get him, but at the same time I still think the concerns about his past addictions are incredibly overblown.

[El Gordo]

Do you not think Buck could support him?

No not the kind of support structure he needs. Buck isn't a minister or a shrink. He can't supply the friends, familym stable and familiar, environment that will be missing when Hammilton changes venues.