Olney: Where does Josh Hamilton land?
How many years in a contract would you give Hamilton?
If Major League Baseball's contracts were structured like those in the National Football League, Hamilton would draw some level of interest from almost all teams on a short-term deal. But baseball contracts are fully guaranteed, unlike NFL contracts, so that if Hamilton goes into serious regression or has some sort of lingering off-field issues, his next team could be on the hook for years.
The Texas Rangers clearly have their doubts about how long they want to invest in Hamilton, because they are preparing for Plan Bs: They have done background work on Justin Upton and Jacoby Ellsbury and others, knowing that they may be in the market for an impact outfielder if somebody outbids them for Hamilton.
"I think they already have a very defined set of parameters on what they want to do with him," said an AL official last week. "I don't think they'll budge from those."
What exactly that means, we'll see. Olney says the market may be limited for Hamilton based on moves other clubs have already made. But he goes through a possible list, which includes Boston (but does Hamilton fit in with their long-term plan?), Atlanta (would they increase payroll for Hamilton?), Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington and others. You can read all about that here (insider).
Richard Durrett
ESPNDallas.com
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Richard Durrett
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
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UPCOMING GAMES
| W-L | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | 23-17 | 13-7 | 10-10 | W1 | |
| TEX | 27-15 | 12-5 | 15-10 | L1 |
| W-L | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | 23-17 | 13-7 | 10-10 | W1 | |
| TEX | 27-15 | 12-5 | 15-10 | L1 |
| W-L | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | 21-22 | 11-10 | 10-12 | W1 | |
| TEX | 27-15 | 12-5 | 15-10 | L1 |
TEAM LEADERS
| WINS LEADER | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Yu Darvish
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| BA | I. Kinsler | .302 | ||||||||||
| HR | N. Cruz | 11 | ||||||||||
| RBI | N. Cruz | 33 | ||||||||||
| R | A. Beltre | 26 | ||||||||||
| OPS | M. Moreland | .901 | ||||||||||
| ERA | D. Holland | 2.93 | ||||||||||
| SO | Y. Darvish | 86 | ||||||||||
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