Hamilton: I don't owe the Rangers

Dude, you owe them sobriety.

Hamilton owes the Rangers big-time. They are paying him a buttload of money this year to play baseball.

Beyond that, he owes them nothing, and they owe him the same.

What a disappointing attitude considering his history and all this "love". Great player yes but seems like the heart and head are not in sync.

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 08:41 AM ET  02.25 by jgb

+1 and he'd better realize that no team is going to give an ex/current addict who is hurt every year a MONSTER long term contract

Wanna bet?

The kid is a monster at the plate and pretty damn good out in CF too. Someone is going to step up and pay him a lot of money to play ball.

As for the assertion that he owes the Rangers, that's ridiculous. On the field he has earned every penny of his contract and off of it he is ultimately responsible for his sobriety, not the Rangers. Let's not confuse support with the actual will to stay clean and sober because all the support in the world means nothing if the addict doesn't do his/her part.

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 08:41 AM ET  02.25 by jgb

+1 and he'd better realize that no team is going to give an ex/current addictwho is hurt every year a MONSTER long term contract

this guy has too many problems, unluckely he can't fix this problem with money!!!!!

After reading the whole article... He needs to fix things at home.

Fix that and everything else will take care of itself.


Thanks for the sound byte though, Josh. Dallas talk radio had a field day yesterday.

I have no issues with these Hamilton quotes. The Rangers, in the final analysis, care only about Hamilton's performance. They'd be okay with him drinking as long as it didn't affect his performance on the field. Looking at another current issue, Red Sox nation would happily send chicken and beer to the Fenway clubhouse at game time every night if it actually made the team play better. But, alas, experience suggests that it effects both your conditioning and your focus.

Nobody owes anybody anything. The Rangers did not give Hamilton a chance at a MLB career, the Reds did. He has done nothing but produce since becoming a Ranger. He's right. It is a business. He gives it his all and he gets compensated. As for his "relapses" we are not talking drugs. We're talking getting drunk twice in four years. I'm sure no other MLB star has EVER done that. Get off this guys' back.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:32 AM ET  02.25 by Brewsterdude

Dude, you owe them sobriety.

My oh my, how soon we forget. Josh will be on the fast track out of the MLB.

Sounds just like an addict.

What the hell, nobody's going to suspend me, you think this is The NFl? Bud Light got that name for a reason!!!

We should have signed Prince and let Hamilton play out the year and let him go at the end. Somebody is going to pay him big bucks. We will never match what some big market team is going to pay him next year and we would have Prince beyond next. We slept on that

Dumb,ungrateful,d.....bag jock.Handling your PR down there surely has been an enjoyable task for the Rangers. Cut him loose ... he'll be crying in his beers before sunset. NO CLASS PUTZ!

Nobody "owes" anybody anything. Loyalty in sports went out years ago. The Rangers have done great things for Hamilton, it's true ... and he's played very well. But you know what? Sobriety is HIS choice - not the Rangers, and not the fans. HE decides if it's going to rule his life, or not. I think he's smart enough to realize that. But the bottom line is this: the Rangers will do what's best for the Rangers 1ST, and Josh will do what's best for Josh 1ST. If those two things happen to connect, he will re-sign. if not, he walks. Everybody needs to understand that. We can speculate all day long on what SHOULD happen ... but if you don't think the Rangers haven't made plans for life without Josh Hamilton, you're nuts. And if you also don't think Hamilton has weighed playing for the team who will give him what he wants the most, you're also nuts. And, in that back-and-forth, guess what? The fans don't enter into it. Not at all. We don't live with Josh Hamilton. We don't work for the Rangers. We have our own agendas ... which may (or may not) coincide with either the team's, or Hamilton. At the end of the day, so far, the Texas Rangers have NOT won a World series WITH Josh Hamilton, so the question becomes - can they win it WITHOUT him, and, if so - when and how does that happen?

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 03:57 PM ET  02.25 by My girlfriend is Hot

We should have signed Prince and let Hamilton play out the year and let him go at the end. Somebody is going to pay him big bucks. We will never match what some big market team is going to pay him next year and we would have Prince beyond next. We slept on that

We?

Wasn't the best thing to say looking for a long term contract, but it was a small sound byte out of 40 minutes worth of talking.

this would be a good guy for Theo to sign eventually. If he tought Hamilton could stay healthy anyway

No surprise in his comments. The Rangers pay him to play (and keep sober), if he stops doing that this year they'll let him walk. He isn't some kind of project for them.