Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
★★★
Last time we checked on the Josh Hamilton situation, the Angels’ outfielder avoided suspension after an arbitrator sided with him over Major League Baseball. If you remember correctly, the Angels and some of their higher-ups weren’t very happy with the decision, and expressed that opinion in just about the worst way possible. Well, since then, many of Hamilton’s teammates have spoken out in support of their friend in the clubhouse. Additionally, Robert Manfred has declined to investigate who leaked Hamilton’s relapse in the first place – something that is explicitly against the collective bargaining agreement.
On Friday night, things took an even worse turn after owner Arte Moreno elected to speak with the media, declining to commit to the 33-year-old playing another game for Los Angeles. He quickly doubled down on those comments, claiming there was language in Hamilton’s contract that touched on any potential relapse, something he explicitly denied at the time of the signing. In fact, it turns out that the league doesn’t allow those kind of contract provisions, and as a result the Players’ Association is none too pleased with Mr. Moreno right now.
All in all, it’s a really ugly situation on a number of different levels that’s being made worse and worse by Moreno every time he opens his mouth. The entire Angels organization is handling this as poorly as possible in terms of public relations, managing the clubhouse, and – most importantly – being decent human beings. There is a way to handle this unfortunate moment in Hamilton’s life, and this isn’t it. For the sake of everyone involved, I hope this is resolved quickly and quietly, but it appears this is going to get worse before it gets any better.
- To lighten the mood a bit, we’ll turn to LaTroy Hawkins and other extremely nice veterans around the league.
- Alex Rodriguez has already hit one home run in his quest for 700, and eventually the all-time record. While his contract states he should be paid for these milestones, it appears the Yankees are going to try to fight that. Should be fun!
- The Mets have always been a controversial franchise over the last decade or two, but one of their most controversial moves was letting Jose Reyes leave. How has it affected them in the time since, and how will it affect them in the future?
- What if every team got a do-over on their worst transaction? Would any of them be significantly better in 2015?
- I missed a lot of things during the offseason, but most of them involved Ned Yost.
- A.J. Preller and the Padres are on the prowl in the trade market again, this time for a shortstop. As tends to happen in these situations, Elvis Andrus’ name has been thrown around in speculation. But does it make any sense?
- Mark Buerhle has many things in life. He has a lot of money, an inexplicably hard-to-spell last name, and the world’s admiration for his speedy work on the mound. Now, you can add 200 wins to that list.
- The Red Sox and Yankees played 19 innings last night! Who wouldn’t enjoy that? Me. I wouldn’t enjoy that.
- Is there a more dangerous job in the world right now than pitching for the Texas Rangers? I’m not convinced there is.
- It’s easy to make fun of the Rockies for many different reasons, but the offense is not one of them. For now.
