By Randy Galloway
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
The fans love him.
I love him.
But that love might be a one-way street, at least based on Josh Hamilton's repeated priorities when asked about continued employment as a baseball businessman in Arlington.
There will be NO hometown discount, Josh has consistently informed us.
His loyalty is first and foremost to the players' union; therefore you get all you can get to help those coming behind you, as those ahead of him have done for Josh.
All Hamilton asks is to be treated "fairly" when it comes to a long-term contract offer from the Rangers.
(On a personal note: Have you ever noticed that your idea of "fair" compensation seems to always differ from management's estimation of what your value is worth? In Josh's case, does this disagreement make management "unfair"?)
Hamilton, of course, will have to suck it up this season and play for $12 million, but then comes free agency for 2013. Because of Josh's "unique" circumstances involving a lifestyle turnaround, you won't find a more interesting financial debate ever in baseball.
We can't say the Rangers "lost out" on prized free agent Prince Fielder this week because at what Detroit ended up paying Fielder (nine years, $214 million), the Rangers or no other interested team were even in the same financial ballpark.
Make no mistake, of course, the Rangers had a heavy interest in Prince, and if they had signed him, then 2012 was considered a farewell tour for Josh in a Rangers uniform. Under even an expanded payroll, having two players making $20-plus million a year was highly unlikely.
So with Fielder out of the picture, does Josh now have added leverage in dealing with the Rangers? Will the team sign off on Josh's desire of a six-year contract for, say, $120 million?
When ownership co-chairman Bob Simpson went verbally where he shouldn't have gone (for future negotiating purposes) last week and said he'd rather have Josh than Fielder, does that give Hamilton more negotiating muscle?
The headline in this newspaper the other morning read "Healthy Hamilton worth more than Prince's ransom."
Definitely count me in on that opinion.
A "healthy" Hamilton is worth more than any ballplayer on the planet. A "healthy" Hamilton, and a drug-free Hamilton in his earlier days, would have already cracked the $300 million mark in salary.
Josh is the most talented player in the game. If healthy.
But he averages playing 125 games a season for the Rangers because, for whatever reasons, he's never healthy. And for previous lifestyle issues, Josh is the only player in baseball who requires an "accountability partner." He can't be trusted alone.
Yes, I love to watch Josh play, and Josh has produced when he does play. If that 10th-inning home run in Game 6 had held up, he'd now be labeled as our own Roy Hobbs.
But...
Josh had made it clear with his comments that business is business. Don't blame him for that, even though the Rangers' organization has been much better to him than the players' union can ever be.
But with Fielder going elsewhere, that won't make any difference in how the Rangers handle Hamilton in contract negotiations. His estimated request of a six-year investment at $20 million a season is -- my guess here -- not going to happen.
I'd put the team's contract offer at three years, maybe $60 million. My man Gil, in his column on Josh this week, suggested four years and $72 million, with incentive clauses added for the amount of games played each season. OK, that's also legit.
But that's not what Josh wants, of course. Common sense says he wants to at least reach the $100 million mark. And as we've seen with Fielder this week, some team usually comes out of a free-agency nowhere with crazy money.
If the crazy money happens for Josh, he's gone, or at least that's what he keeps telling us. No hometown discounts. He's doing it for the union.
Granted, the Rangers have a tough call here. Hamilton is a valuable baseball commodity, he's a popular player and his "story" serves as an inspiration to others.
A private knock on Hamilton the last several years involved a reluctance to play through routine aches and pains. But while in major pain in September and then all the way through the postseason, Hamilton stayed in the lineup daily. Big style points were registered for that in the clubhouse.
From all reports, Josh is recovered from off-season surgery, appears in peak physical condition and appears ready for a monster "contract year" season, if he stays healthy, of course.
If good health happens, and there's a monster season, the Rangers will have to alter their contractual thinking, and so will Josh, with both parties upping the ante.
But it would be a huge surprise if there's an agreement before the end of the season, or at least well into the season, which is not assuming there will be an agreement at all.
Instead, however, of Josh telling us how much he loves the union, he should be spending the next six months or so telling the Rangers how much he loves and appreciates the team's devotion and trust in him the last four seasons, particularly since they acquired him as tainted goods.
The Rangers would like to have Hamilton signed long term, but what price is "fair," based on the current baseball evidence?
Three years, $60 million. Josh and his agent will totally disagree, but I'm sticking with that as fair, at least until we see if he's finally an everyday player when the season starts.
Randy Galloway can be heard 3-6 p.m. weekdays on Galloway & Co. on ESPN/103.3 FM.Randy Galloway, 817-390-7697
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