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Of all the free agents this off-season, maybe Josh Hamilton is the most intriguing. He’s won an AL MVP, and been a powerhouse. He’s been on MLB’s restricted list for drug use, landed on the DL often, and was lackluster in the second half of 2012. Which Hamilton you’re going to get is where the debate starts.
Today on Baseball Prospectus, I look into how Hamilton would sit in terms of salary and performance if a reported 7-year, $175 million deal that he is seeking came to fruition. From the Baseball Prospectus article:
So let’s say it happens. Let’s say Hamilton lands a seven-year, $175 million deal. How would he stack up compared to the highest-paid players in the league? Based on total contract dollars, $175 million would rank Hamilton ninth, moving CC Sabathia down to 10th. Mark Teixeira, who would sit just ahead of Hamilton with his eight-year, $180 million deal that he reached with the Yankees for the 2009-16, is the only player beside Sabathia to have a lower WARP in his platform year leading up to their high-dollar contracts.
Hamilton would also be the second-oldest player to command a deal in the top 13 highest-paid contracts, behind only Alex Rodriguez, who signed a 10-year, $275 million deal with the Yankees (the highest in the history of the game). In 2007, the year before the deal kicked in, A-Rod posted an 8.3 WARP.
In terms of Average Annual Value (AAV), Hamilton’s $25 million annually would behind only Alex Rodriguez for the highest AAV in baseball.
Hamilton would become the highest-paid outfielder in the league. Matt Kemp, who recently reached an eight-year, $160 million extension with the Dodgers, would be $15 million back in total contract dollars with $160 million or $20 million by AAV. Kemp’s WARP was 8.3 in his platform year, and he was four years younger than Hamilton is today.
Make sure and hit the link as I provide a table showing the highest-paid players by total contract dollars, their AAV, age at the beginning and end of the contract, and what each player had as their WARP in the platform year before the contract was reached.
READ MORE ON BASEBALL PROSPECTUS REGARDING A POTENTIAL 7-YEAR, $175 MILLION CONTRACT FOR JOSH HAMILTON
 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
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