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Those eight words caused a firestorm today. They came from the face of one Josh Hamilton, who is in the last year of his contract with the Rangers and had talks of a long term deal tabled after his well documented relapse with alcohol. The entire quote goes like this: “The Rangers have done a lot for me, but I’ve got a question for ya’ll: Have I done a lot for the Rangers? I think I’ve given them everything I’ve had. I don’t think anybody can say I haven’t. When it comes down to it, people don’t understand, fans don’t understand, this is a business, this is an entertainment business. I love Texas. I love my fans. I love fans of the Rangers. I love the organization. I love my teammates. I love everything about it. But I’m not going to sit here and say that I owe the Rangers. I don’t feel like I owe the Rangers.” Josh is telling the front office and the rest of MLB that he is not going to give a home town discount to the Texas Rangers when contract talks start up again after the 2012 season. Hamilton said it is a life thing, not a baseball thing.
So why would Josh say something like that? The Rangers stood by him in the two relapses he has had so far since becoming a Ranger, hired two different personal coaches at a substantial cost to the team, stood by him in the horrible situation that involved the death of Shannon Stone last season, and have been fine with all the time he has missed due to injury. The team has done a lot for their star outfielder, but he has also done a lot for his team. Josh was the MVP in 2010, he has come through in a big way in the post season for this team, he is a great teammate, and he plays hard for all of the games he plays in. I would say they are about even. The problem I have is the way he was quoted around the league. It made it sound like Josh is ungrateful for all the the organization has done for him, and I don’t think that is the case. I just think he was saying that it is not a lock that he will be a Texas Ranger after the 2012 season. My hope is that this story will just blow over in a little while and we will be talking about spring training baseball baseball again and not inter-personal relationships. So will Hamilton re-sign with the Rangers after the 2012 season ends? I think it is way to early to decide that one. Lets get back to what we all care about, and that is Texas Rangers baseball. One thing we do know, Hamilton is playing for the Rangers in 2012, and that should be enough to make Rangers fans happy for now!