SB Nation - Josh Hamilton

Heroes of the Zeros: Center Field

Slyde — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:00:18 -0000

In February of 2000 the Reds traded for Ken Griffey Jr. and locked up their center fielder for the next decade to an 8-year deal. Or so they thought. Injuries and declining play meant that Griffey only started 36% of the games in CF for the decade. Does he still deserve to be the starting CF on the All Decade Team? That's for you to decide! Ballot after the jump.

Click header to sort table by column
	Years	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	wOBA	WAR
Darren Bragg	2004	38	103	94	11	18	3	1	4	9	8	29	.191	.255	.372	.627	61	.263	0.3
Chris Denorfia	2005-2006	67	164	144	22	40	9	0	2	9	17	30	.278	.358	.382	.740	90	.326	1.1
Juan Encarnacion	2002	83	354	321	43	89	11	2	16	51	26	63	.277	.330	.474	.804	106	.343	1.6
Ryan Freel	2003-2008	544	2146	1873	294	509	97	17	22	114	210	323	.272	.357	.377	.734	91	.329	6.4
Ken Griffey	2000-2008	945	3904	3353	533	904	173	8	210	602	476	673	.270	.362	.514	.876	122	.362	11.4
Josh Hamilton	2007	90	337	298	52	87	17	2	19	47	33	65	.292	.368	.554	.922	131	.383	2.7
Norris Hopper	2006-2008	168	440	396	60	125	15	2	1	20	31	43	.316	.367	.371	.738	90	.325	2.9
Brian Hunter	2000	32	48	40	11	9	1	0	0	1	6	9	.225	.319	.250	.569	46	.266	0.4
Corey Patterson	2008	135	392	366	46	75	17	2	10	34	16	57	.205	.238	.344	.582	50	.248	-1.0
Ruben Rivera	2001	117	290	263	37	67	13	1	10	34	21	83	.255	.321	.426	.747	87	.324	0.9
Jason Romano	2004-2005	41	63	56	6	12	2	0	2	6	5	19	.214	.290	.357	.647	69	.285	-0.3
Drew Stubbs	2009	42	196	180	27	48	5	1	8	17	15	49	.267	.323	.439	.762	99	.330	1.7
Willy Taveras	2009	102	437	404	56	97	11	2	1	15	18	58	.240	.275	.285	.559	48	.247	0.4
Reggie Taylor	2002-2003	235	505	467	58	112	20	6	14	57	25	147	.240	.281	.398	.679	76	.286	0.0
Dewayne Wise	2006-2007	36	46	43	4	8	2	1	0	2	1	7	.186	.205	.279	.484	21	.186	-0.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 12/22/2009.
WAR data made available from BaseballProjection.com
wOBA calculated via the formula included in The Book and does not include SB data.

Sunday morning Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:32:49 -0000

Another quiet Sunday, early in the offseason.

Jeff Wilson has a story up that says that the Rangers can't afford John Lackey or Milton Bradley or Roy Halladay or anyone else who would be good and expensive, so stop talking about them, and maybe, if the stars align and we're real lucky, the Rangers can find enough change under the team sofa cushion to sign Vlad Guerrero or Marlon Byrd or Jermaine Dye. But don't count on it.

Wilson also has a short Q&A with Josh Hamilton up.

Fantasy Baseball: More dudes you need to love in 2010.

Ian, yo — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:25:47 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

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1. Jacoby Ellsbury- It's time to compare players!

Player A (2009): 606 ABs, 15 HR, 96 R, 68 RBI, 60 SB, .305, .816 OPS

Player B (2009): 624 ABs, 8 HR, 94 R, 60 RBI, 70 SB, .301, .770 OPS

Pretty close, eh? What if I told you that player A will likely be drafted as a top three outfielder in 2010, while player B could be drafted near the third round in drafts. I'm sure you know this but Player A was Carl Crawford and B was Jacoby Ellsbury. Crawford may give you a few more home runs and Ellsbury may get you more SBs, but I'm just not drafting Crawford in the first or second round when you can get someone at a thinner position and wait on Ellsbury.

2. Jayson Werth- Could be one of the most underrated players going into drafts next year. After putting up a season with 36 home runs, 98 runs, 99 RBIm, 20 SB and hitting .268, I could see Werth being drafted after the likes of Grady Sizemore (returning from elbow surgery,) Nick Markakis, Alfonso Soriano, Jason Bay, B.J. Upton and Josh Hamilton. Each one of those players has their downside, whether if be age, durability or just plain production and I'll be happy getting a four category stud in the later rounds than to gamble on one of the bigger "names" out there.

3. Brian Wilson- I understand how it may be tough to hold off on a closer when you have such elite talents like Joe Nathan and Mariano Rivera, but there's one player who impresses me just as much as the elite closers and that guy is Brian Wilson. Over his first two seasons as the Giants full-time closer, Wilson has racked up 79 saves, 150 K, 55 BB, 122 hits in 134.2 innings. In 2008, Wilson had an ERA of 4.62 but his FIP suggested he'd pitched like a 3.93 guy and in 2009, his FIP suggested he'd pitched better than his 2.74 ERA with a 2.50. If your reliever puts up excellent K/9 and save totals, it makes it worth his higher possibility of putting up an ugly whip or ERA since one bad outing for a reliever can be offset by one decent start by another pitcher.

Poll

Which would you prefer to draft in 2010 taking ADP into account?

Jacoby Ellsbury

64 votes

Carl Crawford

38 votes

102 votes | Poll has closed

Evan Grant: Rangers should hire two hitting coaches

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:34:42 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

3 months ago: Texas Rangers batter Josh Hamilton tosses his helmet after striking out swinging in the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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Evan Grant writes today that the Rangers should go with two hitting coaches -- Rusty Greer and Scott Coolbaugh.

Greer offers the credibility of being a former major leaguer, Coolbaugh is someone who has worked with and had success with several of the Rangers' younger hitters.

I don't really have an opinion on this. I don't know who the best coach would be. I do think that, for the Rangers to contend in 2010, having Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis get back on track, and having Ian Kinsler hit more like he did in 2008 than in 2009, is pretty key.

I don't know what coach is going to have the best results with those guys, though.

Searching for the Astros Skipper, Weekend Rundown

davoag — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:24:26 -0000

Six candidates interviewed in the past three days, and five of them haven't been profiled yet. But before we move on to that, I thought it'd be constructive to get a historical perspective on the job they're interviewing for. What do these guys need to do to become the best manager of the 18 in Astro history? Here's a handy reference chart:

Most wins by a Houston manager: Bill Virdon, 544

Most playoff appearances: Larry Dierker, 4

Most seasons at the helm: Bill Virdon, 8

Most wins in career (non-Houston): Leo Durocher, 2,008

First up on the managerial rewind is Bob Melvin, former Arizona Diamondbacks skipper:

Bob Melvin
     Age: 47
     Hometown: Palo Alto, Calif.
     College: California.
     Most recent job: Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
     Previous Major League managing experience: Managed the Seattle Mariners in 2003-04 and Arizona Diamondbacks from 2005 until he was dismissed on May 9 of this year after a 12-17 start. He won 93 games with Seattle in 2003 but didn't make the playoffs and lost 99 games the following year. Melvin was hired by the Diamondbacks and led Arizona to the 2007 NL West title before being swept in the NLCS by the Colorado Rockies. He was NL Manager of the Year in 2007.
     Minor League managing experience: None.
     Minor League managing record: None.
     Playing experience: Melvin spent most of his career as a backup catcher for 10 seasons with Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Kansas City, Boston, the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. He hit .233 with 35 homers and 212 RBIs in 692 career games.
    Did you know: Melvin was hired by Arizona to replace Wally Backman, who was dismissed before he managed a single game because of past discretions?
     What GM Ed Wade said: "Once we started to focus in on some names and we did our homework and talked to people like Pat Gillick and [former Diamondbacks general manager] Joe Garagolia Jr., they thought he did a good job."

Melvin was a hot candidate when he landed with Seattle back in 2003, but had an up-and-down tenure in Arizona. He did usher in a bunch of kids and helped the D'Backs to win the 2007 NL West title, but he also oversaw the under-development of guys like Chris Young and Stephen Drew. His bullpen management was also spotty, mainly because he constantly changed closers due to injuries and ineffectiveness.

The interesting thing about Melvin is he had almost the exact opposite situation in Arizona that he'd have here in Houston. Out there, his rotation consisted of Brandon Webb, Randy Johnson and Dan Haren for at least part of his tenure. That's three top-flight starters breezing through town, while his offense struggled for the most part. Arizona finished 14th in runs scored in 2007, 10th in 2008 and though the D'Backs finished 9th in 2009, they also gave up the third-most runs in the league. For comparison, they gave up the fifth-least runs in both 2007 and 2008.

So, though his offense did trend upwards over the past three seasons, once they lost Webb and Johnson, the D'Backs pitching fell off a cliff. I wonder how much discussion went into what he'd do with Houston's rotation?

Moving on to the next candidate, Phil Garner:

Phil Garner
     Age: 60
     Hometown: Jefferson City, Tenn.
     College: Tennessee.
     Most recent job: Manager of the Astros
     Previous Major League managing experience: Garner managed for more than 14 years in the Majors, spending eight seasons in Milwaukee (1992-1999) and two full seasons in Detroit (2000-01) before being dismissed six games into 2002 season. He took over the Astros at the All-Star break in 2004 and led them to the NLCS and a year later to the World Series. He was let go with 31 games left in the 2007 season and has been out of baseball since.
     Major League managing record: 985-1,054.
     Minor League managing experience: None.
     Minor League managing record: None.
     Playing experience: Spent 16 seasons in the Major Leagues with Oakland, Pittsburgh, Houston, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco and hit .260 with 109 homers and 738 RBIs in 1,860 games. He helped Pittsburgh to the 1979 World Series title by hitting .500 in the World Series. He played with the Astros from 1981-87 and appeared in more games with the Astros than he did with any other team.
    Did you know: Garner became a candidate after calling Astros president of baseball operations Tal Smith to recommend Bob Melvin for the job?
     What GM Ed Wade said: "I've known Phil since we crossed paths in 1981 when I went to the Pirates and he was there. I've been a big fan from afar in Detroit and then here his record speaks for itself. He's a tremendous candidate."

Not going to spend too much time on Scrap Iron, but suffice it to say, he's got an interesting candidacy. Using that whole good cop, bad cop theory of coach hiring, Garner was the perfect, laid-back guy to get the manager's job from Jimy Williams, who was a little more on the prickly side. After Gar was Cecil Cooper, who turned out to have his own prickly side. Naturally, the team thought of the laid-back Garner again...wait, what? I've stopped trying to think about why they'd consider a guy they fired so recently, so let's just move on...

Next up is Pete Mackanin:

Pete Mackanin
     Age: 58
     Hometown: Chicago.
     College: Illinois.
     Most recent job: Currently the bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.
     Previous Major League managing experience: Has been interim manager twice, with Pittsburgh in 2005 and Cincinnati in 2007. He went 12-14 in the final 26 games with the Pirates in '05 and 41-39 in the second half of the season two years later with the Reds, who had the worst record in the Majors when Mackanin took over.
     Major League managing record: 53-53.
     Minor League managing experience: Managed in the Minor Leagues for 13 seasons and won championships in 1995 (Ottawa of the International League), 2002 (Lynchburg of the Carolina League) and 1990 (Nashville, Eastern Division championship of the American Association). Mackanin has also managed in Venezuela League, Dominican winter league and Puerto Rican winter league. He also has seven years of Major League coaching experience with Pittsburgh and Montreal.
     Minor League managing record: 917-849.
     Playing experience: Played for nine years as an infielder in the Major Leagues with Texas (1973-74), Montreal (1975-77), Philadelphia (1978-79) and Montreal (1980-81). He hit .226 with 30 homers and 141 RBIs in 548 career games.
      Did you know: Mackanin has been succeeded twice by Jim Tracy as a manager, with Class A Peoria in 1986 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006? He succeeded Tracy as manager at Triple-A Ottawa in 1995.
     What GM Ed Wade said: "Pete served as interim manager it Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and had great results taking over in Cincinnati. I talked to Wayne Krivsky, who as the GM [in Cincinnati] at the time, and he was a really big advocate of Pete's. He has managing experience in winter, extensively in the Minor Leagues and on two Major League club. He has a great personality and a good sense of humor."

The most interesting thing about Mackanin was what he did with the 2007 Reds. That team had 51 losses when he took over in July and went on to win 41 of their last 80 games. Basically, Mackanin played .500 ball for the last half of the season. Of course, those same Reds finished above the league average in runs scored in 2007 but dead last in runs allowed. The Reds were hitting .254 as a team when Mackanin took over and finished by hitting .279 over the last three months of the season, including a team line of .309/.375/.499 in August. Good seasons by Scott Hatteberg, Brandon Phillips, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Hamilton show that Mackanin has experience getting the most out of some very different personalities.

Still, the pitching woes of the Reds that season is at least a little troubling. Mackanin used his bullpen for 263 innings and had an ERA above 5 with his relievers in the second half. His overall ERA jumped up to 5.11 from 4.79 as well, though he basically had to cobble together a rotation behind Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo. This is definitely another case of a guy who needs to answer quite a few questions about what he sees with the Astros pitching staff.

Next is former Astros shortstop Tim Bogar:

Tim Bogar
     Age: 45
     Hometown: Indianapolis, Ind.
     College: Eastern Illinois.
     Most recent job: Currently first -base coach for Boston Red Sox.
     Previous Major League managing experience: None.
     Major League managing record: None.
     Minor League managing experience: Spent four seasons as manager in the Minor Leagues with Cleveland (2006-07) and the Astros (2004-05) and went to the playoff in three of those seasons. Led Double-A Akron to the Eastern League title in '06 and '07 and was named the league's Manager of the Year in '06. He was named Manger of the Year in the Appalachian League in 2004 in his first year of managing at Class A Greeneville. The next year, he led Class A Lexington to an 81-58 record, the best record in the South Atlantic League.
     Minor League managing record: 289-200.
     Playing experience: An infielder who spent nine years in the Major Leagues with the New York Mets, the Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers, Bogar hit .228 with 24 homers and 161 RBIs in 701 career games. He started a career-high 82 games at shortstop for the Astros in 2000 whiles sharing time with Julio Lugo.
    Did you know: Bogar played all nine positions in an exhibition game for the Mets against Triple-A Norfolk in 1996?
     What GM Ed Wade said: "When this process started, a lot of people spoke very favorable of Tim. I don't know him, but certainly there are multiple people, including people on our interview committee and [president of baseball operations] Tal [Smith] and others, that felt Bogar fit the profile extremely well. Despite the fact he hasn't managed in the big leagues, they felt the experience they had with him and dealing with players [was positive]."

Bogar brings back fond memories of that late '90s playoff era, and has been a surprisingly effective minor league manager. The thing that sticks out to me was a couple years after he retired, he visited the Astros in Kissimmee as a Rawlings sales representative. The irony of a guy known for his glovework selling gloves to teams was not lost on me at the time.

Yet another anecdote I recall from his time with the Astros: some time in that playoff run (I believe it was 1997), Bogar broke his arm and had to spend the rest of the season on the bench. He credited Dierker with helping him see the field as a manager at the time, and claimed it helped him play smarter when he was on the field. Since he never hit much, it was nice to think our shorstop was sort of a manager on the field, and I remember Dierker praising his acumen on helping the fielders around him. Of course, I cannot now find any evidence of this. Still, I do recall reading about that back in the day.

I'm not sure what Bogar's strengths or weaknesses as a manager might be. We can assume that he'd help their fielding, but that's too simple a conjecture to really be true. Plus, the Astros have actually been a pretty good fielding club for the past couple of seasons. For all the grief I've given Tejada for the past two seasons, he's a good defender. Yes, he doesn't really have the range to play short any more, but he's a vacuum cleaner out there when the ball is hit near him.

Lastly, let's look at Brad Mills, bench coach for the Boston Red Sox:

Brad Mills
     Age: 52
     Hometown: Exeter, Calif.
     College: College of the Sequoias/University of Arizona.
     Most recent job: Currently bench coach for the Boston Red Sox.
     Previous Major League managing experience: None.
     Major League managing record: None.
     Minor League managing experience: Mills managed 11 seasons in the Minor Leagues in the Cubs (1987-92), Rockies (1993-96) and Dodgers (2002) organizations, moving into managing immediately upon the completion of his playing career. He led the Rockies' Triple-A club in Colorado Springs to the playoffs in 1994 and Pacific Coast League title in 1995. He last managed in 2002, when he guided the Dodgers' Triple- A Las Vegas affiliate to a club-record 85 wins the PCL's Southern Division championship.
     Minor League managing record: Unavailable.
     Playing experience: Appeared in 106 career games over four seasons, all with the Montreal Expos (1980-1983). He hit .256 with one homer and 12 RBIs in 168 at-bats.
     Did you know: Mills was Nolan Ryan's 3,509th career strikeout victim, lifting Ryan past Walter Johnson as baseball's all-time strikeout king in 1983?
     What GM Ed Wade said: "I've always had great respect for Brad. [Boston manager] Terry Francona made a point of calling me when the search began and gave a strong endorsement for Millsy and he got a strong endorsement from [Boston general manager] Theo Epstein. Despite the fact he hasn't managed the big-league level, everyone knows he's got tremendous experience working as [Francona's] right-hand guy in Philadelphia and Boston and managed in the Minor Leagues."

It's easy to assume that the bench coach is the guy next in line for the managerial position. After all, that's what Cecil Cooper did for all those years and it's what a ton of other guys have done over the years (Joe Maddon, possibly? I can't remember anything today). Still, it appears that the pitching coach in Boston, John Farrell, is the heir-apparent to Francona and not Mills. That explains why he'd be interested in our position. Now, why should the Astros care about him? Was this interview just a way to get Bogar on the docket?

Mills is right in the middle of the candidate pool, age-wise. He's not as young as Manny Acta or Bogar, nor is he as old as Garner or Mackanin. He's won consistently in the minor leagues and certainly has been around a winning ball club there in Boston. The Red Sox run their organization the way I'd hope the Astros will someday, making decisions based partly on numbers and partly on traditional scouting. They spend a ton of money, but they just don't throw it around too frivolously (ahem*Dice-K*ahem). How much contact Mills has with this side of the team, I don't know. The other side of that coin is, if that's what Mills is used to, can he work for the Astros, who don't seem to run their team in quite the same way? Food for thought.

Thus endeth Round One. With the word that Manny Acta is a finalist for the Cleveland job, are the Astros now taking too long in their search? What could a second round of interviews possibly tell them that this one didn't? We've already got to wait until after the World Series to announce who the new skipper is, but that doesn't mean they can't go ahead and hire them ahead of time and announce it later. What's your top five list of the candidates and who do you think will end up getting hired?

Poll

Who is your top candidate?

Tim Bogar

34 votes

Pete Mackanin

16 votes

Manny Acta

39 votes

Brad Mills

20 votes

Bob Melvin

25 votes

Al Pedrique

2 votes

Dave Clark

6 votes

Phil Garner

64 votes

Ned Yost

19 votes

Randy Ready

1 votes

226 votes | Poll has closed

Josh Hamilton: From Prodigal Son to Exploding Sun

R.J. Anderson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

The Rays may not have won the AL Pennant last year if Hamilton stuck to baseball like this way back when.

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Since the dawn of humankind, the sun has been an object of mystical amounts of infatuation and worship. Claiming something is "the center of (insert a team, person, something)'s universe," is a common phrase. Blame Aristarchus and Copernicus for pushing the heliocentric theory. Blame the giant star ablaze with enigma and life for being the first super star that most encounter. Call it a cliché, an adage, a literary device, but here's fact: Josh Hamilton is the Rays version of the sun.

Entering June of 1999 the Devil Rays held the first selection in baseball's amateur draft. Two prep players stood out above the rest of the crowd. The tantalizing arm of Josh Beckett was met with an attitude that set some off. The young Texan flame-thrower, capable of pumping upper-90s fastballs and mid-70s curves alike, was too arrogant and looked upon as having character flaws. Beckett was still a top draft pick, no doubt; however this was no ordinary draft since there was an equally sensational talent available.

A young outfielder from North Carolina represented the paragon of the all-American boy. Josh Hamilton hit home runs, prayed to Jesus, loved his parents, and was destined for greatness. Comparisons to Mickey Mantle spread rampantly. Of course, those comparisons were based on baseball and would unfortunately extend to Mantle's off-field demons, but at the time Hamilton was a heaven-sent baseball-mashing gift.

He batted and threw left-handed. He didn't just throw, he threw. Pre-draft workouts saw him hitting 96 with regularity. Not many left-handers who can hit 96 are moved off the mound though, and that remains a testament to just how promising his bat was. Hamilton's power made scouts swoon. Batting practices often repeated the same scene: a silent, carefree swing gave way to a thunderous crack and a long-gone baseball.

The thing people really raved about though? Hamilton's strong devotion to baseball. He loved the game. Truly, deeply. Loved it. Backed by strong family support and a modest, humble nature about his talents, Hamilton perfected the face-of-franchise role well before he could ever ascend to the throne.

Baseball America ranked him the Devil Rays best prospect three years running and ranked him second in 2003 behind Rocco Baldelli - citing constant injuries and plate discipline issues as the reason for dropping him a slot.

A year later Hamilton's name would disappear from the prospect rankings for good.

At the end of every day the sun settles beyond the visible border, not to be seen again until the forging of a new day. In this act, a sunset is usually created, except for on days with cloud cover or rain. Hamilton would take 235 trips to the plate in 2002 then disappear from baseball for the following three seasons. His plight to hell and back is well documented, for which the focus during this period should be elsewhere.

During this time the Rays would remain miserable. The odds are good that Hamilton, much like Baldelli and Carl Crawford, becomes a starting outfielder by 2004. The Rays probably win more games with Hamilton in the outfield. With Aubrey Huff playing first base. With Delmon Young and B.J. Upton soon up. Playoff contenders? No, but mediocrities much like the present day Houston Astros isn't a far stretch. 70-80 wins annually. Maybe every little thing breaks right. Maybe they win 85 one year. The exact totals are meaningless.

To allow for further crimes against imagination:

If that comes to fruition then in 2004 the Rays don't take Jeff Niemann fourth overall; instead maybe Bill Bray. Wade Townsend never happens because the Rays are too busy taking Brandon Snyder. Evan Longoria, David Price, and Tim Beckham are likely never possibilities. Chuck LaMar isn't fired and Vince Naimoli still owns the team. Andrew Friedman? You mean the Rays Director of Baseball Development who was hired by the San Diego Padres as assistant GM?

The wayward possibilities are endless and - to an extent - terrifying.

During one the shortest days in 2006, Hamilton re-emerged and wound up landing with the Cincinnati Reds via a Rule 5 pick-and-trade with the Chicago Cubs. Knee surgery upon his return to the Rays' minor league system convinced the Rays to leave him unprotected. After all, no way he sticks in the majors for a full year, right? Not many weeks later Hamilton's star illuminated the baseball world as an in-game spring training home run reportedly went over 500 feet.

Hamilton became the toast of the Reds throughout his season. The Rays, meanwhile, were still poor. Their supreme outfield of Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Delmon Young had yet to take form, and the calls for Hamilton were plentiful. Shortly after draft day, a story was published by a writer in Cincy documenting a smudge in Hamilton's now-seemingly perfect character. During the ESPN broadcast, Friedman was interviewed, to which Hamilton reportedly yapped a quip about Friedman's intelligence and how Hamilton would be in the minors if it were up to him.

Beyond belief, indeed.

So, maybe it's ironic - or fitting even - that Hamilton's time to shine came during the Rays magical run and coincided with the team changing the imagery from sea creature to ray of light. He stole not from their attention. They were no longer the last team to give up on him and really they never were. Chicago and Cincinnati have those dubious honors - although Edison Volquez is nice. Hamilton put on a display at Yankee Stadium reminiscent of his glory days a decade earlier. This was all different though. Tattoos and scars cover his body, essentially turning into mouths which constantly taunt him of his shaky past. His image was that of redemption rather than purity. No longer was Hamilton someone with a bright future, instead the question was: how much longer could his body hold up to this? Hamilton's frailty was always the largest knock against him and it showed once more in 2009 as he played in only 89 games; cementing 2008 as the only season throughout his entire career that he topped the 100 games played mark.

Scientists expect the sun in which we take comfort in to undergo a metamorphosis into a red giant in a few billion years. During which, there's a distinct possibility that all of Earth's water will evaporate - seemingly ceasing life as we know it. A cruel reminder that even the most ballyhooed stars fade.

Any bitterness on this side should cease. Hamilton's addiction - and excuse this for sounding cold-hearted - changed the course of the Rays for better.

Thursday a.m. Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:02:34 -0000

The big news this morning is, of course, the fallout from yesterday's announcement that Rudy Jaramillo won't be coming back...

Evan Grant says the Rangers made Rudy Jaramillo an offer they knew he was likely to decline, and made it clear that they wanted to see some changes from the hitters:

The offer also arrived with a set of directions for improving an offense that has become too liberal in its free-swinging approach and not focused enough on when manufacturing a run is necessary. About this, there is no doubt. The Rangers need to be a more effective, efficient offense.

It was the contractual definition of being placed on probation. If the offense rebounded and if the management team stayed intact and the ownership situation was settled, there was no reason 16 years couldn't turn into 20 or even 25. But if things didn't go just so, then come this time next year, Rudy Jaramillo, at age 60, would be another statistic in the nation's growing unemployment numbers after spending 27 years of a 32-season career in the Rangers' organization.

Richard Durrett has some quotes from Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, who aren't happy about Jaramillo leaving.

Jeff Wilson writes that Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan and Jaramillo all agreed changes were needed in the team's approach.

Tim Cowlishaw writes that the Rangers now appear to be farther away from their goal of being a playoff team than they did a year ago.

Randy Galloway is cranky, and takes a shot at...someone, I'm not sure who:

Any stupidity that Ryan "scolded" Rudy after this season for his hitting philosophy is so far off base it doesn’t register, except with a mouthy group of local geeks, who wouldn’t know a baseball clubhouse from a YMCA shower.

I acknowledge being a geek who has never been in a baseball clubhouse, but I'm also not local, nor have I said Ryan "scolded" Jaramillo, so I'm not sure who Galloway is referring to. If someone has a suggestion, let me know.

Galloway also has some angry Michael Young quotes about how, if Chris Davis was quoted as saying he "never connected" with Rudy, that it must have been taken out of context, and that players on other teams want to work with Rudy.

Richard Durrett also contemplates whether the players needed a different voice:

Do the Rangers need a different voice in the batting cages? I think some of them do and some of them don't. I'll be interested to see who the Rangers get to take Jaramillo's place and how he handles some hitters on this team that have good pedigrees, but had disappointing seasons.

If it were me, I would have kept Jaramillo. I just don't buy the idea that he's lost it because the club had one disappointing offensive season. But let's see how the next guy does and whether the Rangers' hitters alter their approach (I think they will).

I'm not feeling good, so I'm not going to dwell on the "one disappointing season in fifteen years" meme right now, but I will...

Durrett also analyzes the catching situation from 2009 and going forward into 2010...

2009-10 Do-It-Yourself Offseason Trade/Free Agent Post

Al — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:01:23 -0000

More photos » by Mark Avery - AP

Some guy named Brian Roberts. Ever heard of him? Me, either.

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This morning, wrote that the Cubs are interested in acquiring . Cubs GM Jim Hendry . Meanwhile, Hendry said that Milton Bradley would be traded to the . Hendry also said that Rich Harden , and that Carlos Zambrano . Former Cub Mark DeRosa while Bradley was offered to the . The Cubs tried to get the to take Aaron Miles' contract, but they refused because . In the upcoming Rule 5 draft, the Cubs are going to select . The Cubs' plans for Sam Fuld in 2010 include Brian Roberts was located and had this comment on his possible trade to the Cubs: Finally, manager Lou Piniella's comments about the rumors included:

Josh Hamilton is done for the year

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:24:18 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

8 months ago: From left to right, Texas Rangers' Marlon Byrd, Hank Blalock and Josh Hamilton sit in the dugout in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, April 18, 2009. Hamilton was 0-for-4 in the 2-0 Royals win. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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The Rangers have shut down Josh Hamilton for the rest of the season.

Not a big shock, in what has been a colossally disappointing year for Hamilton.

Tuesday morning Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:19:21 -0000

More photos » by Chris Pizzello - AP

2 months ago: The Los Angeles Angels mob the field after clinching the AL West title with an 11-0 win over the Texas Rangers in an MLB baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, Sept. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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And that's that.

It has been a very good season overall, one that makes you feel a lot better about the 2010 timeframe, but you also can't help but feel that this was a missed opportunity for the Rangers.

Jim Reeves' game story says the Angels jumped on the Rangers early and just didn't let them up.

Ron Washington says that Nelson Cruz will be back in the lineup today. Michael Young was in the lineup, but wasn't 100%, and it wouldn't surprise me if Young and Josh Hamilton sat the rest of the way, given their conditions.

Marlon Byrd says he wants to come back to the Rangers in 2010.

And Reeves has a column about the Rangers' need to have Josh Hamilton in the lineup on a regular basis, with Reeves saying there are now those questioning Hamilton's willingness to play through pain.