Angels sign Hamilton

[kalinecountry]

Hamilton hit .259 with a .323 OBP in the second half 2012 with some suspect defense.

Hamilton postseason stats: .227 average, 6 homers, 720 ops in 34 games.

Texas in last 3 seasons: 5.74 runs in 395 games with Hamilton;
4.30 runs in 91 games without Hamilton.

 

[kalinecountry]

It might have something do with the Dodgers stealing the West Coast baseball spotlight away from the Angels, ever since near the end of last season, just a guess. Younger brother is jealous of older brother?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/the-josh-hamilton-signing-reaction-fallout.html
Reactions to hamilton signing.

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/57991/hamilton-rated-elite-despite-decline
Hamilton rated elite, despite decline.
espn

 

[Thumb]

The Angels need to get working on installing 12 foot high screens along the first base line, for when the meth-head forgets to grip his fucking bat before he swing out of his shoes.

 

[turok]

Hamilton hit .259 with a .323 OBP in the second half 2012 with some suspect defense.

Hamilton postseason stats: .227 average, 6 homers, 720 ops in 34 games.

Texas in last 3 seasons: 5.74 runs in 395 games with Hamilton;
4.30 runs in 91 games without Hamilton.

Interesting Fangraphs article on Hamilton, especially his precipitous dropoff on offense that occurred mostly during the latter part of last season. July was easily his worst month @ the plate when his BA was an anemic .177, although for the month of August, Josh managed to recover and he hit a bit over .300, before tailing off again in September @ .259. June was also a factor when he hit merely .223 after two consecutive months that he began the season hitting well over .300:


"After posting contact rates around 74% earlier in his career, last year he dropped to 65%. Last year Josh Hamilton made less-frequent contact than Miguel Olivo. Last year Josh Hamilton made less-frequent contact than Cliff Lee."

~snip~

"Even Adam Dunn has never posted a contact rate as low as Josh Hamilton just did, and Adam Dunn has always been able to walk. Dunn, for his career, has walked (unintentionally) in 15% of his plate appearances. Last year, Hamilton drew unintentional walks in under eight percent of his plate appearances."


http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/josh-hamilton-signs-with-angels-out-of-nowhere/

It has been speculated that Hamilton's excuse for his roller-coaster season was that he wholly focused on hitting the longball to the detriment of everything else, and swung harder and more wildly @ many pitches that were outside of his happy zone, to ratchet up his league-leading homer total.

 

[wheels002]

This will be a boom or bust signing. Either it looks great in five years or the team is a mess because they cant add anyone with to much money tied up in Wilson Hamilton and Pujhols. I saw a report yesterday that this was the owner going against his front office. It reminded me last year when we signed Prince.

 

[turok]

"Under the five-year deal completed Saturday, the All-Star outfielder receives a $10 million signing bonus and salaries of $15 million in each of the next two seasons, $23 million in 2015 and $30 million apiece in 2016 and 2017."


"On each June 1 of the contract, the Angels will donate $400,000 to The Four Twelve Foundation, Hamilton's charity."


~snip~


"As part of the deal, the team is giving Hamilton a suite between first and third base to be used by his family for home games during the next two seasons. For the final three years of the deal, Hamilton can purchase a suite between first and third base at a cost of $150,000 annually."


"Hamilton also gets a hotel suite on road trips."

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/...ngeles-angels-contract-valued-123-million-mlb


Why are the Angels giving him a ballbark suite to use gratis for his family members, but only for only the first two seasons? Is it b/c his contract is backloaded and Josh is "merely" getting $$15MM for '13 and '14?

As far as getting a hotel suite on road trips, is he the only Angel who will? Maybe Hamilton just highly values his privacy, or he perhaps he doesn't want to mingle with the hoi-polloi.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Those last 2 years, 30m - good luck with that.