Back with the Rangers, is Hamilton facing his last chance in baseball?
ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Hamilton knows in hindsight that he probably should have never left Texas.
When the slugger was first acquired by the Rangers from Cincinnati a few days before Christmas in 2007, a feel-good story got even better: The former No. 1 overall draft pick became an MVP and perennial All-Star after battling cocaine and alcohol addictions, even with a few stumbles.
Now he has another shot at redemption, again in Texas, in what very likely could be his last chance in baseball.
“The reason I’m making certain changes in my life is because I want to be OK after baseball’s over,” Hamilton said when re-introduced by Texas.
“So I’ve done a lot of growing and a lot of learning and soul-searching, as you could say, over the past few weeks. I’m excited about being a Ranger.”
Hamilton is near an MLB reunion with the team he shunned after the 2012 season for a big freeagent contract with AL West rival Los Angeles. The Angels last month traded him back for little in return after two disappointing seasons and the recent offseason that included not only shoulder surgery but a self-reported relapse with cocaine and alcohol.
“If you’re comfortable and you can be at home and relax, but go to the field and still feel like you’re at home when you get there, that’s pretty important,” said Hamilton, who went to extended spring training in Arizona before joining Triple-A Round Rock. “I love the guys on my team in LA. … But it was LA. It wasn’t Texas. It was just really different.”
On Friday, he went 1 for 5 with a three-run homer while playing five innings in left field against Seattle minor leaguers.
He was expected to join Round Rock today.
Things won’t be exactly the same as they were in Texas, where Hamilton was the 2010 American League MVP and an All-Star in each of his five seasons.
Hamilton earlier this year filed for divorce, and court records indicate that he is prohibited from going to the couple’s home in North Texas or seeing their daughters without supervision.
And the Rangers, who made their only two World Series appearances and were coming off a wildcard loss before Hamilton left, are struggling near the bottom of the league for the second year in a row. There is a new manager Banister, after Ron Washington’s unexpected resignation late last season for personal reasons.
This is a low-risk deal for Texas, which is paying only about $6 million of the $80 million still owed to Hamilton through 2017 on that $125 million, five-year contract from the Angels.
Plus, the Rangers don’t expect the player who turns 34 on May 21 to have the same mindboggling numbers he once had for them.
“I know (addiction) is something he’s going to deal with the rest of his life, and by association, we’re going to help him deal with,” said Texas GM Jon Daniels, calling that a benefit but not the reason for reacquiring Hamilton.
“It’s 100 percent about that we think Josh can help us win games,” the GM said. “He can be a productive player again.”