OT: Josh Hamilton to Angels on 5 year/$125 million deal.

[UN-Owen]

Originally I had:

Reyes
Bautista
Hamilton
Encarnacion
Lawrie
Cabrera
LPA
Rasmus
2B

But then I thought Lawrie really should be batting near the top of the order

Why? His numbers don't exactly jump of the page. He shouldn't start that high in the lineup. I'm fine with him moving up if he proves himself. You talking about giving Lawrie at bats over either Cabrera or Edwin.

Is Lawrie even 22 yet?

I'd give him every opportunity to grow into a Jeter/Larkin/Pedroia type of role with this team

If you want to go righty/lefty all the way down the lineup then you have to have a righty bat 2nd after Reyes

[flatjacket1]

Is Lawrie even 22 yet?

I'd give him every opportunity to grow into a Jeter/Larkin/Pedroia type of role with this team

If you want to go righty/lefty all the way down the lineup then you have to have a righty bat 2nd after Reyes

Batting him 6th doesn't mean your not giving him an opportunity. Jeter put up an .300+ BA at a premium position at Lawrie's age. To even say Lawrie holds a candle to him is ridiculous.

I just don't see the point in giving more at bats to Lawrie than Edwin. I want to win. And who cares if we have 3 righties in a row? They are elite, Lawrie so far is a starting caliber 3B which is great but you don't get put in a lineup based on potential.

[Raps in 4]

This is a bargain compared to what Detroit paid for Fielder.

[Raps in 4]

the chances of him producing in the 5th year of his contract are nil.

Who cares? Even if you only get 4 years of production out of him, this was still a great signing. Being overpaid for one season isn't a big deal.

[Wo1verine]

the chances of him producing in the 5th year of his contract are nil.

Who cares? Even if you only get 4 years of production out of him, this was still a great signing. Being overpaid for one season isn't a big deal.

man, if they win a WS next year or w/e Hamilton AND Pujols can stink up the joint the remaining years of contracts and it still be worth it

[The_Hater]

hahaha
"cant win with wells albatros"
"...cant win with pujols albatross"
"... ...wait till hamiltons an albatross"

Big difference between Pujols and Wells. One of them is a 4th OF while the other put up a 935 OPS in the 2nd half last season and remains one of the handful best players in the game.

Still, those are 3 very ugly contracts. I guess Hamilton will be done just in time to give all the money and more to Trout.

[TheMainEvent]

Part of me feels like this is just the Angels management thinking: "We can't let the Dodgers control our whole market. Let's surprise people and sign the best free agent hitter AGAIN this year."

I expect Trumbo's numbers to drop a little bit... Trout's too... but even so, Trout, Kendrick, Pujols, Hamilton, Trumbo, and Morales is a scary top 6 (assuming that's basically what the top of the batting order kind of looks like) for at least the next year.

[James_Raptors]

I remember hearing on the Fan 590 today that those 3 contracts combined add up to the same (or more) than 6-8 entire teams payroll.

[flatjacket1]

the chances of him producing in the 5th year of his contract are nil.

Who cares? Even if you only get 4 years of production out of him, this was still a great signing. Being overpaid for one season isn't a big deal.

man, if they win a WS next year or w/e Hamilton AND Pujols can stink up the joint the remaining years of contracts and it still be worth it

I agree with wolverine. If they win a WS due to him, that makes him worth it. If they don't, they'd need a lot of production over those 4 years to make up for the 5th one.

Over the last 2 years Melky Cabrera has .3 less fWAR than Josh Hamilton. That's a good deal.