It will definitely help Hamilton with the PT. I think Texas and Cincy parks will play pretty similar, so like has been said above I think he'll put up numbers about the same pace he did last year and will be a good #3 OF or very risky #2 OF due to injury risk.
As for Eddison, I am pretty upset that the Rangers gave up on him. He seemed to regress last year, but was once Texas' top pitching prospect. Hamilton looks like he could be a pretty good player, but even if he tops out the Rangers need young pitchers to build a team around much more than outfielders. You can pay free agents to come to Texas and mash, but you can't get most top pitchers to come, and those who would you have to way overpay!
Great player for Texas, in my opinion. I'm a big Hamilton fan. If he hadn't gotten hurt, I think he could have made a real run at ROY -- .292/.368/.554 (.922) with 19 HR in only 298 AB. You figure double those ABs to simulate a full season, and that would extrapolate out to 38 HR as a rookie (obviously assumptions are made there). Add that to his great on-base skill and strong CF arm, and I think he could be a great acquistion for Texas. My only concern with Hamilton is lefty/right splits. He did poorly against lefties (.222/.296/.292) in 2007 but only had 72 ABs. That's not enough to really conclude anything, but it will be interesting to see if he turns out to be an everyday guy or more of a platoon partner (maybe Texas could bring back Mench and his .924 career OPS vs. LHP).
I don't think Cincy got enough for him, although they have plenty of OF depth and need pitching, hence Volquez. So that makes some sense for them, but I'm not sold on Volquez. From Texas' perpsective -- although I'm high on Hammy, can they afford to give up pitching? I think adding Hamilton's a good move, but they'll need to do something yet to add pitching to that team.
I personally do not like the deal for the Reds. What the Reds have in the farm system for pitching makes this move bad imo. They have a lot of equal arms in the minors that would do just as good as Volquez will do imo. I really liked the idea of having a 2009 OF of Jay Bruce in LF, Drew Stubbs in CF, & Josh Hamilton in RF. But alas, that dream is dashed. Hamilton was very cheap and his production was worth more than the money he was due for the next few years. The only things that makes me able to stomach this deal is that the Reds have never had a hard time finding OF talent and that they found lightning in a bottle and sold it for some value. Volquez was impressive late in the season last yeare after he was demoted to Single-A and produced himself back as a MLB callup (ala Roy Halladay). Still, I like the move for the Rangers though. I would not have done this deal though. The future will tell who is right.
Havok1517 wrote:I personally do not like the deal for the Reds. What the Reds have in the farm system for pitching makes this move bad imo. They have a lot of equal arms in the minors that would do just as good as Volquez will do imo. I really liked the idea of having a 2009 OF of Jay Bruce in LF, Drew Stubbs in CF, & Josh Hamilton in RF. But alas, that dream is dashed. Hamilton was very cheap and his production was worth more than the money he was due for the next few years. The only things that makes me able to stomach this deal is that the Reds have never had a hard time finding OF talent and that they found lightning in a bottle and sold it for some value. Volquez was impressive late in the season last yeare after he was demoted to Single-A and produced himself back as a MLB callup (ala Roy Halladay). Still, I like the move for the Rangers though. I would not have done this deal though. The future will tell who is right.
Well said. Hamilton was very cheap especially for his production. I think they could have gotten more for him, and if no one was offering more than they should have waited into the season to move him.
Havok1517 wrote:I personally do not like the deal for the Reds. What the Reds have in the farm system for pitching makes this move bad imo. They have a lot of equal arms in the minors that would do just as good as Volquez will do imo. I really liked the idea of having a 2009 OF of Jay Bruce in LF, Drew Stubbs in CF, & Josh Hamilton in RF. But alas, that dream is dashed. Hamilton was very cheap and his production was worth more than the money he was due for the next few years. The only things that makes me able to stomach this deal is that the Reds have never had a hard time finding OF talent and that they found lightning in a bottle and sold it for some value. Volquez was impressive late in the season last yeare after he was demoted to Single-A and produced himself back as a MLB callup (ala Roy Halladay). Still, I like the move for the Rangers though. I would not have done this deal though. The future will tell who is right.
Well said. Hamilton was very cheap especially for his production. I think they could have gotten more for him, and if no one was offering more than they should have waited into the season to move him.
I agree with this...it seems they rushed to deal him. I know they have OF depth, but that doesn't mean you trade a valuable commodity for $.60 on the dollar just for the sake of clearing things up. But who knows, maybe Volquez proves me wrong.
Havok1517 wrote:I personally do not like the deal for the Reds. What the Reds have in the farm system for pitching makes this move bad imo. They have a lot of equal arms in the minors that would do just as good as Volquez will do imo. I really liked the idea of having a 2009 OF of Jay Bruce in LF, Drew Stubbs in CF, & Josh Hamilton in RF. But alas, that dream is dashed. Hamilton was very cheap and his production was worth more than the money he was due for the next few years. The only things that makes me able to stomach this deal is that the Reds have never had a hard time finding OF talent and that they found lightning in a bottle and sold it for some value. Volquez was impressive late in the season last yeare after he was demoted to Single-A and produced himself back as a MLB callup (ala Roy Halladay). Still, I like the move for the Rangers though. I would not have done this deal though. The future will tell who is right.
Well said. Hamilton was very cheap especially for his production. I think they could have gotten more for him, and if no one was offering more than they should have waited into the season to move him.
yup agree with both of you guys....
fantasy wise, the only way i see this benefiting him is that he gets everyday abs (although that could be bad news, as the rangers will more than likely let him battle through the struggles vs lhp). cinci is one of the best parks to hit at in baseball, and being protected by dunn and griffey is more advantageous than being protected by milton bradley and ben broussard.
Is that all that Krivsky could get for Hamilton? I think he has been talking to the same people who Omar Minaya talked to about Milledge Volquez is mildly interesting - but unfortunately he is supposedly a flyball pitcher and he is moving to a small park. He could be OK , but he also could be Eric Milton jnr.
The other guy going to the Reds - Danny Ra Herrera is a tiny smoke and mirrors reliever. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I don't think this is very flash for the Reds.
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hey, it's not slow pitch softball...you can't play 4 outfielders and jay bruce is ready....the reds got pretty good value for an 06 rule 5 pick .. that gamble paid off but there are concerns about hamilton's ability to stay healthy..evolquez has a lotta upside and at 24 yo is another good gamble for the reds..one side of this trade could end up looking bad or both sides could end up in clover or the crapper...interesting deal but i give the nod to the reds by opening up a spot for the 08 ROY
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by hot4tx » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:35 pm 
