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| I know, it's hard to tell the difference |
It's about paying Josh Hamilton.
Fans and a lot of media got really emotional "demanding" the Rangers belly up to the negotiating table and paying however much it'll take to keep Hamilton.
Trust me, despite holding all the cards, there is a number that Hamilton would take right now and it's in the Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols arena of 10 years and $200 million. No doubt, Hamilton takes that today.
Unfortunately, and this is just an assumption, the Rangers know better. They're willing to sign him, too.
Chances are, even if Hamilton smashes every Major League single-season hitting record by October and plays 150 games, the Rangers would probably still not give him Prince Fielder money.
Thus, we are caught in between.
The standard has been set by the Fielder-Pujols deals this winter. And you go down from there.
I'd be careful with Hamilton and, honestly, there's a limit here. Of all fans and individuals, Rangers fans should know what a gigantic contract does to a franchise. It almost always never pans out perfectly for both sides.
The Alex Rodriguez deal crippled this franchise for a decade. And A-Rod was great. He did everything we thought he'd do. The money was still wrong and the Rangers thought themselves a contender when they really weren't.
That resulted in trading A-Rod to the Yankees for 50 cents on the dollar (unless they take Robinson Cano instead of Spyder Arias).
Ideally, I think, the Rangers don't mind paying $20 million a year. Just not for more than five years.
I think they'd like to use the Adrian Beltre deal as the baseline for negotiations and go from there.
Beltre, at the age of 32 coming off a number of years with injury issues, signed a six-year, $96 million deal before the 2011 season. It started Beltre at $14 million a year and gave him a $1 million raise every season. His sixth season ($16 million) was voidable if he didn't meet certain plate appearance numbers. By 2015, Beltre will be making $18 million.
The similarities might create a nice bit of symmetry for the two players.
Hamilton's also dealing with health issues, as he has for his entire career. He plays physically demanding defense positions and coming off, potentially, fantastic offense careers.
In a few weeks, Hamilton will be 31 years old.
I think the baseline is higher for Hamilton. Let's say it starts at $20 million and goes up $1 million per season for five seasons through 2017. He'd be 36 at that point and making $24 million. Throw in an incentive-laden sixth year for $20 million. That's a six-year, $130 million deal.
That's actually a deal I'd offer Hamilton and I couldn't imagine offering more years or more money.
Of course, this has much to do with the other 30 teams than it does the Rangers. A deal like that would more than likely get busted by some deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers that would probably equal that of the Fielder-Pujols deals. Hamilton does not take my hypothetical deal right now. He plays out the season.
The point being: There is a limit to what you offer Josh Hamilton. And like Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson before him, this franchise will survive.
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