In what may end up being one of the biggest surprises of the offseason, the Los Angeles Angels turned out to be the winners of the Josh Hamilton sweepstakes after agreeing to a five-year, $125 million deal with the outfielder on Thursday. Hamilton was arguably the most sought-after free agent this offseason and considering all of the money they spent last year on Albert Pujols–the move came as a bit of a shock.
Despite batting .304 throughout his career, the argument can be made that Hamilton’s 2012 season was a disappointing one as he batted just .285 with 43 home runs and 128 RBIs. Sure, it may be difficult to label Hamilton’s 2012 season a disappointing one with those type of numbers, but for a player earning as much money as he is over the next five years–it’s hard to say the Angels are coming up as the winners in this deal.
The New York Yankees are the perfect example that spending money on the best available player available isn’t always going to guarantee a championship–even if it did work for them in 2009. The Angels were supposed to be one of the top teams in the American League last season with a stacked lineup consisting of stars like Pujols and Mike Trout, but they finished behind the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers for third place in the American League.
Hopefully, things will be different in 2013 with the addition of Hamilton–otherwise this is just another case of a team overspending on a star player.
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