Hamilton’s Hot Stove Season Signing for Angels

For anyone unfamiliar with the term ‘hot stove season’, perhaps I should explain.

It isn’t a period of time where the best chefs huddle around a kitchen to cook some of the tastiest dishes, but infact a baseball term for that cold, shivering winter period when baseball fans try and keep themselves warm whilst talking about their favourite teams.

Just imagine a bunch of old men hoping that their ballclub signs the biggest free-agent on the market or manages to re-sign their most important asset. Having been to Los Angeles on three previous occasions, I know it can be ‘warm’ there in winter, at least milder than England, and besides their extra sunshine they have seen plenty of movement in the 2012 hot stove to keep themselves feeling toasty until Opening Day.

Josh Hamilton – the biggest name free-agent hitter on the market this off-season – has just signed a five-year, $125million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Just like last year when they snapped up three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols the minute they showed any interest, the west coast team have come up trumps again having for weeks not shown the slightest intention of claiming this most valuable of assets.

Hamilton’s average annual value of $25million is the highest in baseball history for an outfielder, but it is only half the length and amount that Pujols received last year. Hamilton will be 36 when his deal ends whereas Pujols will be 41, so with this acquisition it is not unrealistic to think that Hamilton can challenge for the home run title and be an All-Star for the majority of the contract.

Of course there is a risk, there is always a risk. Hamilton has previous with alcohol and substance addiction and is moving from a hitter’s park to a pitcher’s park. His injury history is also a worry – he has averaged just 129 games a year over the last five seasons with the Rangers – hence why clubs weren’t willing to offer longer-term contracts.

But on his day, Hamilton chases down fly-balls with ease and routinely mashes straight or otherwise pitches over fences for fun. Back on May 8 he tied a major league record with four home runs in a single game amidst a six-game stretch in which he homered nine times.
The Rangers missed out on the playoffs last year, unless you include their wild card do-or-die game against Baltimore – which they lost – and to lose the division title on the last day of the season following a sweep at the hands of eventual division champions Oakland in the last week was heartbreaking.

Hamilton dropped a routine fly-ball in that final game and was booed by his home fans against the Orioles. Despite that, the slugger publicly stated that he’d give Texas a chance to match any offer he received, and after the Rangers lost out in their race with the Dodgers to sign starting pitcher Zack Greinke – more on that in a moment – it looked likely that Hamilton would be returning to Texas.

The Angels were eventual winners and now boast a lineup with Mike Trout, Pujols and Hamilton, all guys who hit at least 30 home runs last season. The Hamilton signing was perhaps a small reaction to the cross-town rival Dodgers capture of Greinke, whom they have given a six-year, $147million deal to. The Angels are saying ‘Yes, boys in blue, we are still here you know’.

The Dodgers are simply stating – smirking at the same time most probably – ‘Ok, but we have more money and aren’t done until we win’. The biggest indication that the west coast is now the superpower of baseball is in these two signings alone. Both Hamilton and Greinke were presumed to want to avoid the big-city spotlight – Greinke for his past issues with anxiety and Hamilton for his struggles with addiction – yet both are currently sorting out local digs in Los Angeles, America’s second largest city.

It’s always a fun time in LA and I recommend you go there post-April but, most crucially, without a stove because it gets rather warm come spring time. Thanks to the spending power of the Angels and Dodgers, it has just got that little bit hotter.