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Do you want to take a shot at Josh Hamilton?


Frobby

Do you want to pursue Josh Hamilton  

232 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you want to pursue Josh Hamilton

    • Yes, he is the big bat we need and is worth the expense and risk
    • No, he will be too expensive and is too risky


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That wouldn't bother me too much. But we'd need to be careful about what we give up. I don't want to trade half our team (a team with a lot of power hitters) to get a major power hitter. Frankly I'd rather have 3-4 guys who can be relied on to hit about 30 HRs vs a team with 1 50 HR hitter, 1 30 HR hitter, and nothing else. We have those 3-4 guys already (Jones, Davis, Reynolds... and then Hardy/Wieters/Markakis all have the potential to be those kinds of guys as well). What our lineup lacks is OBP guys.

I think there's a chance Machado can develop into one of those OBP guys. We need to upgrade 2B, and if we can get a moderately priced OBP outfielder, I wouldn't mind that either... though I wouldn't mind if we stuck it out with McClouth in a relatively cheap 2 year deal.

I'm with you HokieOs. OBP guys- particularly if one of them can simultaneously upgrade 2B is what we should be after. The "veteran thunder" (i.e. "Jim Thome" role) is really more a luxury (though a nice one) and could potentially even be "shelved" until next year's trading deadline(s), etc. IMHO.

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I voted yes.

Here's some overly simplistic statistics: From 1961 to 2007, between its history as the Senators going on their move to Texas, the Rangers made zero World Series appearances. In their five years with Hamilton playing, they made two.

He may have some negatives. His age on a long-term deal is one. He may have a head issue or two. But his offensive production helps win ballgames. He is the type of middle order bat that we need, and the stars could align where we could actually pull off such a signing.

As long as the terms are reasonable, I'm all for signing him.

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The odds that he flames out are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than your average 5/110 type of guy... and 5/110 likely won't be enough to sign him. No, he isn't going to get a 7/210 type deal either, but I'm guessing he signs somewhere for about 6/150. And we'd be foolish to sign him. We're not one superstar away. We're a couple solid players away. Let's get some guys who are cheaper that get on base. We don't necessarily need more HR bats.

We're not "away" from anything anymore. We are there. We already made the playoffs.

For years, management has promised: "Just wait until we're close to making the playoffs. Then we'll go out and land those few final pieces to take us all the way to a WS victory."

Well, we're there. We will now find out if they were serious, or full of BS. They don't need to land Hamilton to prove they were serious. But they need to land SOMEONE to prove they were serious. And this is a strong FA class, pitchingwise. They could also do it through trade, I suppose. But one way or the other, they need to bring the talent level up even more this offseason.

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While I think his bat will hold up for several more years at least, I voted no due to his durability (or lack thereof).

He's averaged 130 games in Texas, and that includes 2009 when he was in just 89. Played in 148 last year.

I'm not real concerned about his durability. Actually, from a baseball standpoint he's probably a pretty young 32, considering all the time he missed.

Obviously the big risk is where is he at mentally and the drug issues, but that is the only reason his price tag may be in our zone.

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I dont think there are any drug issues at all. He's tested 3 times a week. The only "fall off the wagon" moments he's had publicly have been about him having a few drinks. If we condemned every professional athlete that had a few drinks, professional sports would be rather boring.

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I voted "yes" only because Hamilton would likely add a key piece to an already potent hitting attack. I'm really not concerned about his personal problems as much as I am about how his ridiculously expensive contract would affect the "team chemistry" factor the Orioles now seem to enjoy.

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We're not "away" from anything anymore. We are there. We already made the playoffs.

For years, management has promised: "Just wait until we're close to making the playoffs. Then we'll go out and land those few final pieces to take us all the way to a WS victory."

Well, we're there. We will now find out if they were serious, or full of BS. They don't need to land Hamilton to prove they were serious. But they need to land SOMEONE to prove they were serious. And this is a strong FA class, pitchingwise. They could also do it through trade, I suppose. But one way or the other, they need to bring the talent level up even more this offseason.

When I say "away from", I mean being a legit WS contender. Let's face it, long term, we're not there yet. We had an 80-85 win team catch lightning in a bottle. But we don't need one drastic fix.

That said, I wouldn't be completely opposed to picking up Greinke. But Hamilton looks to me like he'd be Albert Belle II.

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Someone with his issues will need a support network. The caffeine problem might have been diagnosed earlier. I wasn't talking about injuries which are another story.

I don't disagree with that at all, which is one reason I wouldn't sign him. I don't want a super star with those issues.

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It's Amazing how much better our lineup would be by just adding 1 guy....I wouldn't go more then 5 years on him but he is the one Free Agent that could put this team over the hump.

Markakis - RF

Reimhold - DH

Jones - CF

Hamilton - LF

Davis - 1B

Weiters - C

Hardy - SS

Machado - 3B

Flaherty (or FA) - 2B

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So we have a guy who's a perennial all star and MVP candidate. Good to great hitter with a lot of power and some off the field issues that sometimes come up. Despite being 32 he'll probably get a big contract but he probably won't play in New York or Boston and seemingly would be open to overtures from the Orioles.

Does this story sound familiar to anyone else? We've seen this movie before people. It doesn't have a good ending.

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Absolutely it does. But let's not forget that ANY season is going to have injuries with it. That's just what happens in baseball.

Look, it's not like I'm saying that the team sucks. But it has a gaping hole in the department of guys who get on base. We really missed Markakis IMO in that last series. However, my point isn't that we suck and shouldn't have hope. Quite the contrary, I don't think we need to be big spenders to improve our team this season. A couple moderately priced OBP guys (maybe to fill the hole at 2B) should help a lot.

Just curious, does Andino have any options left?

I can agree with this. Nick being healthy would be a huge help to the OBP part of the offseason.

Other then LF and 2B, I'm not sure where this team is going to improve in OBP. Reynolds didn't have a bad OBP at 1B. I don't think Davis is going anywhere.

I just don't think the payback for Hamilton is nearly worth what he is going to want.

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