More Hamilton trade reactions

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 27, 2007 10:05 PM CST in News

The Transaction Oracle weighs in on the deal, liking both players and acknowledging there's a ton of risk on each side...

And Christina Kahrl has a new TA up, which includes her take on this move from the Rangers perspective, concluding thusly:

At the very least, on the surface of it GM Jon Daniels has added an immensely gifted player who looks like he can hit right-handers and play a fine center. The risk taken is about as large as might be conceivable in a deal of prospect for prospect. Hamilton's gifts have been the stuff of legend for years, but there's an equally frightening amount of pumpkin potential. We've been nominating deals for "the one that made/broke/saved/killed Jon Daniels" for a couple of years now, and this fits comfortably with the Soriano and Teixeira swaps on that list. The possibility is that in Hamilton he gets the MVP candidate who might erase ready memories of the other two. For a pitcher, even one as talented as Volquez, that seems like a fun risk to have taken. The Rangers aren't going anywhere immediately anyways, and if Hamilton works out, his best years will cost the Rangers next to nothing to enjoy.

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What would be the worst?

"We've been nominating deals for "the one that made/broke/saved/killed Jon Daniels" for a couple of years now, and this fits comfortably with the Soriano and Teixeira swaps on that list."

We truly need a poll on this Adam. If you wont do it I will in a diary. Let me know.

""I love GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLD" blueglovelefty

by NYTXFAN on Dec 27, 2007 9:59 PM CST reply actions

There's no question

The worst trade Daniels has made, by far, is the San Diego deal.

It's not even close.

by Darrell McKown on Dec 27, 2007 10:04 PM CST up reply actions

Yep

Not even remotely close

by Brett Perryman on Dec 27, 2007 10:36 PM CST up reply actions

I don't get it

What is so special about Chris Young?

I don't mean to flame or get people riled up but I truly thing if you asked the other GMs in the league if they would do the trade under the same circumstances I bet a vast majority would. I have no problem explaining what I mean and will if you want but what is so special about Young? I fully admit the trade is a disaster and especially throwing Gonzalez in is terrible but I think if you went back and had to decide agina whether to do it or not most GMs would pull the trigger.

by Steven on Dec 28, 2007 12:51 AM CST up reply actions

ummm wrong...

most everyone thought that deal was awful from the beginning. Giving up on a good young pitcher who we would have controlled for 5 years or so as well as Agon for a pitcher who had never been good or healthy who was a year away from free agency was a terrible deal

by erikj07 on Dec 28, 2007 1:59 AM CST up reply actions

Why?

I think if you went back and had to decide agina whether to do it or not most GMs would pull the trigger.

Why do you think most GMs would do that deal?

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 28, 2007 10:27 AM CST up reply actions

That was Buck's trade

Proud Supporter of the Texas Rangers since 1973

by T Coleman on Dec 27, 2007 10:42 PM CST up reply actions

Maybe so, but

JD has not passed the 'buck' on the final responsibility. He accepts the blame, as he should. I think he's learned from it, though.

Cranberry Sauce

by t ball on Dec 27, 2007 10:45 PM CST up reply actions

i don't get what kahrl is saying

does she think the tex deal was bad? i really don't understand why she would think this deal would erase the memory of the tex deal. seems like the effects of the tex deal will be daniels lastingn legacy

by ab03 on Dec 27, 2007 10:09 PM CST reply actions

Ambivalent, I'd say.

She raised a lot of concerns that I hadn't hard of, such as that most of his home runs came against "finesse pitchers" and that most fly balls that he hit went the opposite way in 2007, not ideal for a left-hander in Arlington. Because of those points, Karhl wondered if Hamilton has a "slider-speed" bat and has trouble catching up to fastballs. :(

by Ajax on Dec 28, 2007 1:40 AM CST up reply actions

LOL

The transaction oracle lists one of Josh Hamilton's comps as Roy Hobbs.

Greatness.

I really can't wait to watch him play this year.

"God plays by his own rules, folks. And HGH is f***ing legal as hell up in heaven." -Andy Pettitte

by thedirkatron on Dec 27, 2007 10:30 PM CST reply actions

Hobbs comp

Let's hope it's the movie version and not the book ending.

Cranberry Sauce

by t ball on Dec 27, 2007 10:35 PM CST up reply actions

tats

i think Blalock will get more now just to keep up...maybe sleeves.

if you apologize for everything, you apologize for nothing...

by Longhorn on Dec 27, 2007 10:39 PM CST up reply actions

tats

glad you saved time by not having to type 'too'.

Cranberry Sauce

by t ball on Dec 27, 2007 10:41 PM CST up reply actions

are you seriously

this anal? What's wrong with you...

if you apologize for everything, you apologize for nothing...

by Longhorn on Dec 27, 2007 10:44 PM CST up reply actions

What's wrong with you

should have a question mark.

No, I'm not that anal, just giving you a hard time. Are you seriously this defensive? I'd ne'er seen that slang ere yor post, tho I've ne'er been to a tat par.

Cranberry Sauce

by t ball on Dec 27, 2007 10:49 PM CST up reply actions

Longhorn's right

But t ball screwed up. Longhorn used "to" correctly. We all mess up here, but if you're going to call someone else on it, be right. Which you weren't. Not even close.

"When I was a pup, we got spanked by presidents 'til the cows came home! Grover Cleveland spanked me on two non-consecutive occasions!" LBrooks

by WyoRanger on Dec 28, 2007 12:13 AM CST up reply actions

No, you're wrong.

I meant "too" as in, he typed tats, instead of tattoos. I put quotation marks around the three letters he left out. We all mess up here, but if you're going to call someone on calling someone 'til the cows come home on two non-consecutive spankings, aw, dagnabbit, lost my train of thought. Guess I'm two tieurd.

Cranberry Sauce

by t ball on Dec 28, 2007 12:38 AM CST up reply actions

JD

Here's what I like about him: The guy is fearless. He is endowed with balls of steel. This trade could conceivably work out spectacularly or flame out horribly. I love it.

BTW, for those of you who haven't read it, be sure to read the story Hamilton wrote (or dictated, I guess) for ESPN last summer. It's really an amazing tale.

http://tinyurl.com/334hke

I'm really looking forward to rooting for the guy next season.

But that river of tears has dried for all of us.

by trza on Dec 28, 2007 12:03 AM CST reply actions

Agreed

ant wait to root for someone who has done as much as him. The whole "overcoming" drugs thingy is enough to root for him. You never want to see someone lose as much as he did. Granted he might not have had the career he had last year but no doubt would have if not for the drugs. I cant wait. We traded Agone under the assumption that Tex was gonna resign, imo. When he didn't it made the San Diego trade that much worse. He was in his first year as a GM wasnt he? Can you blame him for trying to improve a diesasterous rotation and put a winning/playoff team on the field. Of course Young is good, but given that he is in the NL and in a pitchers park can you blame him for succeeding. He would have never made it in Texas.

""I love GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLD" blueglovelefty

by NYTXFAN on Dec 28, 2007 7:27 AM CST up reply actions

The Worst Trade

Is Soriano for that idiot Wilkerson. Surely you guys remember how god-awful Wilkerson has been?

by FuturePants on Dec 28, 2007 1:06 PM CST reply actions

Perhaps you've forgotten

how good Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez have been. And that they would have been under team control for 5-7 years.

by a bebop a rebop on Dec 28, 2007 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah, but...

Wilkerson has been terrible; at least Aki has done something positive for the team. That alone makes me say the Chris Young deal was only second worst (if only by a hair!)

by FuturePants on Dec 28, 2007 2:47 PM CST up reply actions

Soriano

The Rangers could have had 1 year of him, then he would have walked.

Or the Rangers could have had 5 years of Young and 6 years of Gonzalez.

The San Diego trade was much, much worse than the Soriano trade because the value of what was given up was so much higher.

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 28, 2007 2:51 PM CST up reply actions

You left out

...Otsuka's awesome recruiting efforts. What a team player!

He obviously wishes he never would've left San Diego, but I guess we can be thankful he never was a pain in the ass about it until recently.

Ctrl - V

by Dustin on Dec 28, 2007 2:56 PM CST up reply actions

show me a quote

or shutup

if you apologize for everything, you apologize for nothing...

by Longhorn on Dec 28, 2007 5:05 PM CST up reply actions

If you weren't a dick about it...

...I might look it up. Before I left town there was a lot of talk about how Otsuka was telling Japanese players how great San Diego was. Did it turn out not to be true or something?

Ctrl - V

by Dustin on Dec 29, 2007 1:25 AM CST up reply actions

His point (I think) was that

there was one vague mention of Otsuka recommending San Diego as a nice place to play, with zero supporting details and zero context, and suddenly some people (especially Newberg) decided he was a 21st century Japanese Benedict Arnold and turned on him completely.

The whole reaction was pretty freaking stupid, imo.

"God plays by his own rules, folks. And HGH is f***ing legal as hell up in heaven." -Andy Pettitte

by thedirkatron on Dec 29, 2007 2:39 AM CST up reply actions

Idiot...

seems like the wrong modifier to use if you're going to bash Wilkerson. I wish the trade had turned out better, but surely, "idiot" isn't the right word to describe him? "Whiffer," or "Greek God of Strikeouts" would seem to be the most appropriate modifiers for the Wilkerson haters.

"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."

by benmor78 on Dec 28, 2007 2:47 PM CST up reply actions

Apologies

Idiot was not the right term. But then again, neither are "defensive specialist" or "OPB machine" - as he was touted when we got him.

by FuturePants on Dec 28, 2007 2:48 PM CST up reply actions

You win some, you lose some

Nobody could have predicted the year Soriano had after he left, and Wilkerson was good hitter for a while who many thought would thrive in Arlington. In retrospect nobody likes the deal but it made sense to me at the time.

Ad nauseum.

Ctrl - V

by Dustin on Dec 28, 2007 2:54 PM CST up reply actions

How Ignorant

Such a short sighted comment. This guy is an addict. Addicts can relapse at any time. As in the case of about 75/80% of the time.

by LBrooks on Dec 28, 2007 3:10 PM CST up reply actions

Are you calling me ignorant?

I don't get it, so maybe I am...

Ctrl - V

by Dustin on Dec 29, 2007 1:21 AM CST up reply actions

OPB machine

I hope nobody was saying that.

by a bebop a rebop on Dec 28, 2007 6:15 PM CST up reply actions

OH I remember how ...

horrific whiffy whifferson was, I remembered every time he came to the plate. Who's that loser playing for now?

Josh Hamilton will become a superstar right before your eyes!

by LAMuscleFag on Dec 28, 2007 11:04 PM CST up reply actions

Let's wait....

and see how good Galarraga will be before finishing out the Soriano trade. If he turns out to be a solid mid rotation guy, then the trade was well worth it even though Wilk flopped.

by Redcaps on Dec 29, 2007 10:22 AM CST up reply actions