It's time for the Angels to Cut Josh Hamilton

[Big Bear]

This guy is really preventing the Angels from reaching their full potential.

He is a rally killer.

Tylers Skaggs is done for the year which is a major blow to this teams World Series chances. They better bring in a starting pitcher and a outfielder quick.

[upscope]

Take CJ Wilson with him

[jjgold]

Josh Hamilton is the worst hitter in majors and probably most overpaid guy in mlb history now

He is an automatic out

steady 3 year decline

As soon as he made big money his numbers just dropped drastically

He can care less either ......such a loser attitude and just a religious freak which basically ruined him

He just hits real defensive and with 2 strikes almost a KO everytime

He misses pitches by 2 ft a lot also

[t-wizzle]

Cut him and be on the hook for $100 million? Makes sense...

[No coincidences]

This is why the NFL continues to be the most popular sport in the United States. If you're the football equivalent of Josh Hamilton, you do get cut. There are no guaranteed contracts, and thus, no dead weight. Baseball is infested with these parasites. Hamilton is far from alone when it comes to cashing checks for prior performance. Meanwhile, in the here and now, he's a ghost.

[boeing power]

Angels should spike his water bottle with cocaine.

[jjgold]

This is why the NFL continues to be the most popular sport in the United States. If you're the football equivalent of Josh Hamilton, you do get cut. There are no guaranteed contracts, and thus, no dead weight. Baseball is infested with these parasites. Hamilton is far from alone when it comes to cashing checks for prior performance. Meanwhile, in the here and now, he's a ghost.

great post and why MLB is ruined and nobody watches or follows it anymore

[Sledge187]

great post and why MLB is ruined and nobody watches or follows it anymore

Best post all week!

[jtoler]

I never seen such useless at bats in my life against left handed pitchers, its like the guy has his mind made up that he's not going to be successful against lefties and just swings at anything. He's another example of how I laugh when these guys get paid crazy after putting up big numbers, they should have started paying them then and not huge once theyve been in the league so long, production is gonna slip. Pujols puts up crazy numbers for dang near ten years but you wanna wait to pay him crazy after that, then the numbers slip and you wonder why.

[RubberKettle]

Guy is not living up to his contract, but cutting him cmon dumb fuk

[jjgold]

I never seen such useless at bats in my life against left handed pitchers, its like the guy has his mind made up that he's not going to be successful against lefties and just swings at anything. He's another example of how I laugh when these guys get paid crazy after putting up big numbers, they should have started paying them then and not huge once theyve been in the league so long, production is gonna slip. Pujols puts up crazy numbers for dang near ten years but you wanna wait to pay him crazy after that, then the numbers slip and you wonder why.

Yes its embarrassing and like he does not care

I think his wife ruined him also

He does not go up there and take cuts like trout does

He still has a lot of talent but not using it

[No coincidences]

Yes its embarrassing and like he does not care

I think his wife ruined him also

He does not go up there and take cuts like trout does

He still has a lot of talent but not using it

He needs some smack.

[mpaschal34]

Yep...the rangers made a smart decision letting him and CJ walk. They decided they can suck just as much without them (but save almost $40 M a year).

[No coincidences]

Yep...the rangers made a smart decision letting him and CJ walk. They decided they can suck just as much without them (but save almost $40 M a year).

Honestly, unless you have a left-handed ace about to enter his prime, any team is smart to let anyone walk before they sign a huge contract and become a shell of what they once were.

[jtoler]

Pujols contract tops out when he's 41 when he'll make 30 mil, Hamilton's top out when he'll be 36 making 32 mil, lol can you imagine their numbers then, baseball and their spending is a joke, heck if you hit 15-20 homers one year you can get 10 mil on the market easy, just be a decent hitter say around .280 and take some big cuts and get your 15 homers, with over 650 plate appearances doesnt seem like the hardest thing in the world.

[BatemanPatrickl]

I like how everyone bags on this guy because of his past struggles with drugs and alcohol. Bunch of hypocrites on SBR.

[No coincidences]

Pujols contract tops out when he's 41 when he'll make 30 mil, Hamilton's top out when he'll be 36 making 32 mil, lol can you imagine their numbers then, baseball and their spending is a joke, heck if you hit 15-20 homers one year you can get 10 mil on the market easy, just be a decent hitter say around .280 and take some big cuts and get your 15 homers, with over 650 plate appearances doesnt seem like the hardest thing in the world.

Contracts ballooned during the steroid era, and there's really no turning back. Plus, you have a bunch of billionaire owners who don't even know the difference between $15 and $25 million per. They couldn't care less how much they pay these cats.

[BatemanPatrickl]

Contracts ballooned during the steroid era, and there's really no turning back. Plus, you have a bunch of billionaire owners who don't even know the difference between $15 and $25 million per. They couldn't care less how much they pay these cats.

Stupid statement. People don't own baseball teams because they couldn't care less about how much they pay their people. They're rich for a reason.

[crustyme]

if u release him, a's will sign him and run away with the division.

i say slip him some alcohol instead.

[jjgold]

If he was drinking again he would hit

I think pressure is on him and makes him tight

So many minor league players can do just as good as guys making 10+ million per year

They need to stop giving big contracts to guys over 30

[No coincidences]

Stupid statement. People don't own baseball teams because they couldn't care less about how much they pay their people. They're rich for a reason.

When it comes to "stars" and big names who they think will attract people to the ballpark, money is obviously no object. Mike Illitch would pay Cabrera $50 million a year if he demanded it. The difference between $25 and $50 million per to a guy like Illitch is much different than what it sounds like to ordinary people.

Do you just argue for the sake of arguing or what? Are you really that bored, or just as stupid as you come across?

[jjgold]

baseball players dont bring peoole to the ballparks like other big time sports

Baseball have very few stars and very few that can market the game

[BatemanPatrickl]

When it comes to "stars" and big names who they think will attract people to the ballpark, money is obviously no object. Mike Illitch would pay Cabrera $50 million a year if he demanded it. The difference between $25 and $50 million per to a guy like Illitch is much different than what it sounds like to ordinary people.

Do you just argue for the sake of arguing or what? Are you really that bored, or just as stupid as you come across?

Stupid huh? I am not the one who cries over every play in a game I wagered on. So owners just hand out contracts based on popularity right? Makes sense to me.

[No coincidences]

baseball players dont bring peoole to the ballparks like other big time sports

Baseball have very few stars and very few that can market the game

You don't think Moreno figured he was signing "stars" when he gave Hamilton and Pujols those monster contracts?

Another guy with all the money in the world and no idea what to do with it.

[No coincidences]

Stupid huh? I am not the one who cries over every play in a game I wagered on. So owners just hand out contracts based on popularity right? Makes sense to me.

Dude, take a look at who's making what in baseball. It's obscene. Yes, owners hand out horrific contracts left and right, and yes, a lot of it is because they are incredibly wealthy. Not rich, wealthy. They buy into the "name brand" of players because they think it will help at the gate as much as it helps on the field. Players benefit greatly from what they've done in the past, and once they've got the big, guaranteed contract, they disappear. Happens every day.

[t-wizzle]

The problem is that in MLB, teams own the rights to their young stars for years before they are finally able to negotiate for a big payday.

They get peanuts the first few years, then go through arbitration, and finally get to test free agency as they approach the age of 30 - you know - when athletes typically begin to decline.

[No coincidences]

Take a look at this list, then ask yourself, who is living up to it -- or even relevant -- from it in 2014?

3B	New York Yankees	$30,000,000	[16]
SP	Philadelphia Phillies	$25,000,000	[17]
SP	New York Mets	$24,644,708	[18]
1B	New York Yankees	$23,125,000	[19]
1B	Detroit Tigers	$23,000,000	[20]
C	Minnesota Twins	$23,000,000	[21]
SP	New York Yankees	$23,000,000	[22]
SP	San Francisco Giants	$22,250,000	[23]
SP	Los Angeles Dodgers	$21,000,000	[24]
LF	New York Yankees	$21,000,000	[25]
1B	Los Angeles Dodgers	$21,000,000	[26]
3B	Detroit Tigers	$21,000,000	[27]
SP	San Francisco Giants	$20,833,333	[28]
SP	Philadelphia Phillies	$20,500,000	[29]

[No coincidences]

The problem is that in MLB, teams own the rights to their young stars for years before they are finally able to negotiate for a big payday.

They get peanuts the first few years, then go through arbitration, and finally get to test free agency as they approach the age of 30 - you know - when athletes typically begin to decline.

You mean like Mike Trout, who just signed a 6-year, $144 million extension at the age of 22? Or Clayton Kershaw, who received a 7-year, $215 million contract at 25?

Which young stars get paid "peanuts"? Pujols was making $7 million per by the age of 23 and over $11 million by the next season. So was Cabrera.

[Blackballer]

This is exactly what team USA's soccer coach Jürgen Klinsmann critized before the beginning of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil (the comments were linked to the cut of team USA player Landon Donovan by Klinsmann) that players like Kobe don't get paid for what they can or will contribute to a team now or in the future. They get more paid for what they have done in the past. Then this so called expert from ESPN (I forgot his name) was so outraged about his comments and the way he critized American sports. I mean the MLB is the prime example for this good-in-past-but-bad-in-present/future contract mentality of some franchises/teams in certain sports leagues.

[jtoler]

You mean like Mike Trout, who just signed a 6-year, $144 million extension at the age of 22? Or Clayton Kershaw, who received a 7-year, $215 million contract at 25?

Which young stars get paid "peanuts"? Pujols was making $7 million per by the age of 23 and over $11 million by the next season. So was Cabrera.

But 7 million was peanuts even back in 2003 compared to what MLB owners paid for lesser numbers when youve already done this...

2001 ★	21	STL	NL	161	676	590	112	194	47	4	37	130	1	3	69	93	.329	.403	.610	1.013	157	360	21	9	1	7	6	5379/D	AS,MVP-4,RoY-1,SS
2002	22	STL	NL	157	675	590	118	185	40	2	34	127	2	4	72	69	.314	.394	.561	.955	151	331	20	9	0	4	13	*753/D96	MVP-2
2003 ★	23	STL	NL	157	685	591	137	212	51	1	43	124	5	1	79	65	.359	.439	.667	1.106	187	394	13	10	0	5	12	*73/D	AS,MVP-2,SS

He put up crazy numbers for about 11 years for the Cards, he topped out at 14.5 mil there, if anything he should have been getting paid with the Cards what he's getting paid now. Not wait to pay him when past history tells us that he's not going to continue putting up those crazy numbers.

[t-wizzle]

You mean like Mike Trout, who just signed a 6-year, $144 million extension at the age of 22? Or Clayton Kershaw, who received a 7-year, $215 million contract at 25?

Which young stars get paid "peanuts"? Pujols was making $7 million per by the age of 23 and over $11 million by the next season. So was Cabrera.

Miguel Cabrera got paid like $300-400k for his first 4 seasons when he killed it. Then he got $7 mil in arbitration. This was all while he was hitting well into the .300s and hitting 30+ homers and driving in 115.

Pujols was a .330 hitter hitting 35+ and driving in 130 runs when he was getting paid well under $1 mil his first three years. Then his 4th year was arbitration and he got $7 mil (not exactly worthy of that kind of production).

Andrew McCutchen same deal his first few years. Robinson Cano. Ryan Howard. The list goes on and on. The young stars typically are vastly underpaid until they get past arbitration and like I said, get their first opportunity at a big payday as they approach the age of 30 (every player is different obviously but you get the point).

Not really sure why you're trying to go to battle with me over this but okay.

[No coincidences]

But 7 million was peanuts even back in 2003 compared to what what MLB owners paid for lesser numbers when youve already done this...

2001 ★	21	STL	NL	161	676	590	112	194	47	4	37	130	1	3	69	93	.329	.403	.610	1.013	157	360	21	9	1	7	6	5379/D	AS,MVP-4,RoY-1,SS
2002	22	STL	NL	157	675	590	118	185	40	2	34	127	2	4	72	69	.314	.394	.561	.955	151	331	20	9	0	4	13	*753/D96	MVP-2
2003 ★	23	STL	NL	157	685	591	137	212	51	1	43	124	5	1	79	65	.359	.439	.667	1.106	187	394	13	10	0	5	12	*73/D	AS,MVP-2,SS

He put up crazy numbers for about 11 years for the Cards, he topped out at 14.5 mil there, if anything he should have been getting paid with the Cards what he's getting paid now. Not wait to pay him when past history tells us that he's not going to continue putting up those crazy numbers.

Agree 150% -- especially paying guys long-term for stuff they've done in the past -- but the system is set up that way and I don't see it changing, unfortunately.

[kidcudi92]

[kidcudi92]

[jjgold]

Other than Jeter and a few other baseball icons nobody gives a fuk about these players

I would put Trout in that company also and maybe Puig

Not Cabera meaning a crowd draw

Baseball is in big trouble down the road as soccer is closing in on them