Why The Josh Hamilton Deal Is Good For The Los Angeles Angels

As rumors of a Josh Hamilton “trade” are filling up social media sites and newsrooms, Yahoo! Sports reported that “[The] Rangers would pay about $15 million of the roughly $90 million” but how is this a good deal for the Angels?

First of all, as Jon Morosi tweeted, “[the] Josh Hamilton trade is materially a ‘baseball transaction'” because a trade requires that there be another player involved. The Angels would take a financial hit, but it may be worth it.

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With Hamilton rehabilitating from his shoulder surgery and the unfortunate shame he brought to the Angels with his near-suspension, loosing him would help the Angels gain back the face they lost in this long process. There was no question as to if Hamilton was going to play in the early part of the year for the Angels, but after the situation, which resulted in the Angels taking down the banner of Hamilton, there was no doubt the 33-year-old would play this year at all. Angels owner Arte Moreno’s comments in regards to Hamilton suiting up for the Halos again further validated his distaste of the situation.

Pretty much, Hamilton was just keeping the bench warm for the Angels because they had nothing else that he could do for them. So, in one perspective, this is a positive for both the Angels and Hamilton.

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Hamilton has needed a change of scenery in the past, so this is a beneficial opportunity for him. Hamilton has past dealings with the Rangers, to whom he will be going to, so he will have a “throwback” experience in Texas.

As far as the benefits for the Angels, these include financial benefits, social benefits, and publicity benefits. Right now, the entire baseball world is looking at the Angels due to their employee who brought headlines this season.

The financial benefits may be slim due to the fact that the Angels will have to swallow a lot of money, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. The Angels have already invested a great deal of money into a player who damaged, but not destroyed the reputation of their franchise. This year, fans haven’t gone to Angels Stadium to see Josh Hamilton, they have gone to see players like C.J. Wilson, Kole Calhoun, and Mike Trout; this means that they have lost money from those who were Hamilton’s biggest fans.

Botton Line: the angels will benefit

Similarly, the social benefits have greatly profited the Angels franchise. In the past four months, the Angels have gathered more attention on social media sites and on news networks than they have in past years. The amount of searches and online discussions regarding Hamilton has greatly increased since the news broke that Hamilton would not receive a suspension. I never got the vibe that Angel fans would welcome Hamilton back. It’s not like the slugger lived up to his contract. This move, if it happens, is good for both parties.

This ties into the publicity benefits which have drawn baseball fans to ignore the Hamilton news and focus their attention on players such as Trout and the newly-recovered Garret Richards. They don’t want to hear about how Hamilton injured his career as well as his shoulder, they would rather hear about Richard’s next start. As insensitive as it sounds, the Angels focus is a World Series ring.