During the 2012 Winter Meetings, baseball saw the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim land the most coveted player on the free agent market for the second consecutive year. One year after signing Albert Pujols to the second wealthiest contract in MLB history, the Halos inked a 5-year, $125 Million deal with outfielder Josh Hamilton which on paper gave the Angels one of the most formidable lineups in all of baseball and was thought to be a World Series contender. In the five seasons Hamilton spent with the Texas Rangers before becoming a free-agent, he was named to the American League All-Star team all five years and won the AL batting title while being awarded AL MVP in 2010. The man who was once touted among the best prospects in all of baseball before injuries and drug abuse threatened his career, had finally developed into the player scouts knew he was destined to be. After earning the recognition of one of the game's best players, Hamilton helped lead the Rangers to back-to-back World Series appearances including the first in franchise history in 2010. So it came as no surprise that Hamilton garnered a hefty payday when he hit the free-agent market just two seasons later.
However, since signing with the Halos, Hamilton has been a shadow of his former self while spending numerous stints on the disabled-list and producing nowhere near the numbers he did while with the Rangers. And then came his relapse with cocaine and alcohol in February which he admitted to. After news broke of Hamilton's relapse, Angels owner Arte Moreno ordered all of Hamilton's merchandise to be removed from the shelves at the team store inside Angels Stadium. Moreno and company was well aware of the risk that came with the now 33-year old slugger the moment they signed him and after the league chose not to suspend Hamilton following his most recent relapse which Moreno was hoping for, the front-office began searching for a team interested in his services. And on Monday, the Angels brought that proposal to fruition by agreeing to trade the highly paid, struggling star to the Rangers. The deal which will end the rocky relationship between Hamilton and the Angels is an expensive one for Anaheim as they will now pay all but around $7 Million of the $83 Million Hamilton is still owed, while shipping him to a division rival and getting nearly nothing in return aside from cleaning their hands of the problematic outfielder.
Although the Rangers will be getting a bargain considering how much Hamilton is owed and how little of the portion they'll have to pay him while hoping to find a solution to their struggling outfield, it won't all be bouquets and hugs for Hamilton when he makes his return to the field for the Rangers. Hamilton will have to regain some of the respect and admiration fans in Arlington once had for their beloved MVP. Upon leaving the franchise he resurrected his baseball career with, Hamilton called Dallas a football town on his way out which although true, rubbed some fans the wrong way. Currently on the disabled-list while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, Hamilton is expected to be ready to join the team come mid-May following a Minor League stint according to Rangers GM Jon Daniels. Hamilton who was no stranger to the Angels organization before he signed with them having faced them multiple times a year while a member of the Rangers, will once again be on the opposing side and my guess is he won't be getting a standing ovation from Halo fans when he's introduced in the batters box.
Three years removed from clubbing a career-high 43 home runs in his last season with the Rangers, 12 more than he hit in his two seasons combined with the Angels, Hamilton is hoping a change of scenery to a very familiar franchise will help him reclaim the star power he once possessed. With his story and struggles with drugs and alcohol well documented, you can't help but root for the guy and hope he turns it around. And when he makes his return to Arlington, I'll be doing just that.
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If there's one thing we've learned about the Philadelphia Eagles, it's that coach Chip Kelly has an interesting way of doing things. See his busy and unpredictable offseason for example. The offensive mastermind has raised quite a few eyebrows on his way to making the Eagles the talk of the offseason after dealing 3-time Pro Bowl running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for former Oregon Duck -- Kiko Alonso, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. Kelly then looked to fill the void left by McCoy with the acquisition of Frank Gore who after agreeing to terms with Philadelphia, chose to sign with the Indianapolis Colts instead. Kelly didn't panic, however, and instead countered by finding his man in the much younger DeMarco Murray who he managed to snag from the rival Cowboys with the help of a college teammate. However, the biggest head-scratcher is what Kelly has done with the Eagles' quarterback position.
Two days after re-signing Mark Sanchez who won over the Eagles' starting QB job following an injury to Nick Foles midway through the season, Philly shipped Foles to the St. Louis Rams in return for the often injured Sam Bradford. Murray and Bradford spent three seasons together at the University of Oklahoma which played a role in Murray jumping ship in Dallas to sign with the Eagles. Not to mention the 5-year, $42 Million contract offer that Philadelphia proposed to the league's top rusher in 2014 which had to have made the decision a bit easier. But just when you thought Kelly's madness had come to an end, he makes yet another questionable decision. The latest reports have the Eagles expected to sign 27-year old QB Tim Tebow to a deal just in time for the start of the team's offseason program which begins on Monday. The former Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Florida is more than two years removed from appearing in his last regular season game with the New York Jets after spending a brief and unsuccessful stint with the New England Patriots who cut him after the 2013 preseason. After being asked by coach Kelly to workout for the team in March, Tebow will now join a crowded QB roster which includes Matt Barkley as well as the aforementioned Bradford and Sanchez.
For Tebow, who is still in search of the respect of an NFL quarterback with a playoff win under his belt while a member of the Denver Broncos, teaming up with an offensive genius in Kelly could very well benefit him and help revive his career in the same way it did for his former Jets teammate Mark Sanchez a season ago. That's assuming Tebow can make the squad of course, something his deal does not guarantee. The signing of Tebow is one of low risk and high reward as Kelly hopes to groom one of college's most decorated QB's into a more well-rounded player at the professional level. But after speculation began to swirl regarding the Eagles reportedly being interested in moving up in this month's NFL Draft to land another former Duck, could Kelly's latest move be an indication that he's throwing in the towel on trying to acquire the reigning Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota whom he recruited at the University of Oregon? While it doesn't exactly shoot down the possibility, it has to at least put a dent in those chances.
The signing of Tebow would give the Eagles two Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks and three QBs taken in the first round. Unfortunately, it would also give them three of the five worst QBs in the league over the last five years from a Quarterback Rating standpoint with a minimum of 30 games at the position. Lets see if Chip Kelly can work his magic with this new batch of Quarterbacks as the Eagles look to rebound from a disappointing season in which they failed to make the playoffs after a 7-2 start before ultimately finishing the year with a record of 10-6.
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First year general manager of the San Diego Padres A.J. Preller proved on Sunday that there's never a bad time to make a blockbuster trade in the MLB. After a very busy offseason which saw the Padres steal the headlines at baseball's winter meetings in December by making acquisition after acquisition to remodel the outfield with such names as Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers as well as Derek Norris behind the dish and Will Middlebrooks in the infield, only to add the cherry on top a month and a half later in the form of pitching ace James Shields, Preller has helped morph the Padres from the doormat of the NL West to a potential contender. And on the eve of Major League Baseball's Opening Day, San Diego made yet another deal to revamp the franchise.
As if Padre fans weren't already ecstatic to turn a new leaf and witness a team with the potential to send the franchise to the postseason for the first time since 2006, they were given one final gift from their new general manager before the start of the season in the form of All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel. Preller made a deal to land Kimbrel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. aka BJ Upton from the rebuilding Atlanta Braves. The Friars managed to kill two birds with one stone with the trade as it helped solve their crowded outfield problem by sending outfielders Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin to Atlanta and also helped them add some extra depth to the back end of the bullpen with the acquisition of one of the best closers in the game. The Braves also landed right-handed pitcher Matt Wisler in the trade, who is one of San Diego's top prospects as well as Minor Leaguer Jordan Paroubeck and a Draft pick.
Taking on the hefty contract of the struggling Melvin Upton Jr. was less than ideal for the Padres who are now looking at an Opening Day payroll near the $109 Million mark which is a franchise record, but chances are they wouldn't have been able to land Kimbrel without it being a package deal and taking Upton as well. Unlike his brother Justin who is due to be a free-agent after the season, the 30-year old Melvin Upton is under contract until 2018 and is owed over $45 Million over the next three seasons. As for Kimbrel, the 26-year old fire-baller is owed $46 Million over the next four seasons with a club option to buy out in '18. But if the All-Star reliever can continue to duplicate the numbers he's produced in each of his first four seasons, there's little doubt the club would choose to part ways. Since being called up to the bigs in 2010, Kimbrel owns the lowest ERA in all of baseball at 1.43 with a minimum of 250 innings pitched and his 186 saves over the last four seasons are the most in the Majors during that span. With four consecutive seasons of 40 saves, a feat reached only three other times, Kimbrel will have a chance this year to become the first pitcher in MLB history to make it five straight seasons of 40 saves.
Padres skipper Bud Black was expected to give the ball to reliever Joaquin Benoit to close out ballgames, but chances are he'll now be moved to a setup role in the eighth as Kimbrel is assigned closing duties. With some pundits predicting the Padres to snap their playoff drought the moment they signed James Shields, they've gotta be licking their chops now that San Diego's chances just got a lot better. But since they were basically being declared a wild card team before Preller's latest blockbuster trade, does this now make them a potential favorite to knock off the consensus NL Western division champion L.A. Dodgers whom they open the season against and maybe even put them in the discussion for an NL Pennant? That's a question yet to be answered, but one thing that is for certain is that A.J. Preller and the Padres will more than likely be buyers at the trade deadline and not sellers.
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