Should the Texas Rangers trade Josh Hamilton?
The trading deadline is now four days away, and the Rangers have yet to strike. Indeed, all eyes are on general manager Jon Daniels as he sizes up the market for ways to improve the two-time defending American League champions, who are tied with the Yankees for the league’s best record at 59-39. Particularly with the loss of Colby Lewis to a torn flexor tendon and the uncertainty about Roy Oswalt’s balky lower back, Daniels’ primary focus is on a frontline starting pitcher to shore up his rotation, and while his lineup doesn’t have any glaring holes, the team has scored just 3.44 runs per game this month en route to an 8-10 record. At the center of the sluggish offense is Josh Hamilton, who has admitted a lack of focus after being called out by both president/CEO Nolan Ryan and manager Ron Washington.
Here’s a thought from leftfield regarding the star leftfielder (and occasional centerfielder): The Rangers should consider trading Hamilton. On the surface, the idea might seem outrageous, and perhaps even heartless, given the support network the team has worked hard to build in order to aid the slugger in his ongoing battle against substance abuse. But particularly at this time of year, reminders that baseball is a business are everywhere, with underperforming teams stripped for parts as they look to the future rather than wallow in the recent past. Hamilton, a pending free agent, rebuffed the Rangers’ efforts to sign him to a contract extension earlier this season, and while he has expressed a desire to return, he presents a whole lot of risk. He’s an elite hitter, at least when he’s healthy and focused, but he is also 31 years old and physically fragile, averaging just 114 games per season from 2009-2011 while serving stints on the disabled list for an oblique strain, a sports hernia, lower back woes, broken ribs, and a broken humerus. Admittedly, some of those injuries are traumatic ones that aren’t particularly likely to recur, but back and muscular problems don’t disappear with age, particularly for players on the wrong side of 30.
Hamilton jumped out to a ridiculously hot start this year, hitting .368/.420/.764 with 21 homers through the end of May, including a record-tying four-homer game on May 8 in Baltimore. Those numbers not only gave him a leg up on winning his second AL MVP award, they pointed towards a rare opportunity for a freshly anointed MVP winner to hit the free agent market. Not since Barry Bonds became a free agent after the 1992 and 2001 seasons has that year’s winner reached free agency, though one could also include Alex Rodriguez after he opted out in 2007, not that any team besides the Yankees could afford him.
Before Hamilton could clear his mantel for another trophy, he fell into a prolonged slump, hitting .223/.318/.436 with four home runs in June, and .154/.230/.308 with three homers — and just seven other hits — so far in July. The Rangers didn’t suffer too badly in June; while their scoring dipped to 4.82 runs per game (down from 5.71 in the two months prior), they went 19-9. But now the offense has really hit the skids, and Hamilton has shown no signs of emerging, going 1-for-15 in his last four games, and 6-for-42 since the All-Star break. Ryan says his star is giving at-bats away by swinging at bad pitches and failing to work deep into counts. Indeed, his swinging strike rates in June (21.6 percent) and July (22.6 percent) both lead the majors, as does this month’s out-of-zone swing rate of 50.9 percent. Hamilton, who has played in 90 of his team’s 97 games, has admitted that he’s “out of sorts mentally,” and that his problems aren’t physical.
Read more: http://mlb.si.com/2012/07/27/josh-hamilton-texas-rangers-trad/?xid=cnnbin
What say the Texas Ranger fan here?
= new reply since forum marked as read
the Red Sox ever letting go of Kevin Youkilis.
Now leave me alone. I'm watching Olympic Dressage. 
I think the Ranger's problems with Hamilton are both injuries and mutual attitude. Jacoby just keeps getting injured. 
Problem for the Rangers is determining and getting true value in a trade. They might be better off dumping Ryan and the GM since they are already in the doghouse, I believe.
