Angels, MLB dismayed by Hamilton ruling

NEW YORK • Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton will not be disciplined by Major League Baseball for his latest problems involving cocaine and alcohol. Team officials responded by saying they were surprised and disappointed.

Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said he disagrees with the ruling by an arbitrator appointed under MLB’s joint drug program with the players’ association. MLB said earlier Friday that it disagreed with the ruling.

Hamilton, a five-time AllStar and the 2010 AL MVP, has played poorly during the first two years of his five-year, US$125-million contract with the Angels, who still owe him US$83-million in salary over the next three years.

He is subject to the treatment program for prior violations involving cocaine stretching back a decade.

The Angels’ public stance supporting punishment of Hamilton is the most visible evidence yet of the club’s disenchantment with the highpriced outfielder, who has been injured for long stretches of two largely miserable seasons in Orange County.

“Do I agree with the decision that was made by the treatment board? Absolutely not,” Dipoto said before the Angels’ exhibition game against the Dodgers. “But that’s not my decision to make.”

In a statement, MLB said it will “seek to address deficiencies in the manner in which drugs of abuse are addressed under the program in the collective bargaining process.”

Hamilton self-reported a new issue this year involving both cocaine and alcohol, a person familiar with the case said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those details were not made public.

MLB said it took “the position that Hamilton violated his treatment program and is subject to discipline by the commissioner.”

Baseball defines cocaine as a drug of abuse, which is covered by different rules than those for performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids.

A four-person treatment board created by the joint drug program, which includes one lawyer and one medical representative each appointed by management and the players’ association, deadlocked 2-2 on whether Hamilton’s conduct was a violation of his treatment program and was subject to discipline. That created the need for an arbitrator to break the tie. The arbitrator did not give reasons for the decision, the person familiar with the case said.

Hamilton, who turns 34 in May, won the AL MVP award with Texas during a six-year stretch as one of baseball’s best all-round players. But his career headed downhill in his final season in Texas, and it has picked up speed with L.A.

When asked how Hamilton might perceive the Angels’ comments about the ruling, Dipoto pointed out that the Angels have been actively supportive of Hamilton ever since they signed him. Hamilton has had two “sober coaches” to monitor his behaviour, just as he did with the Rangers, and the Angels claim they have expended extensive resources to keep Hamilton safe.