Talking to the Nation

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for me.

First a Red Sox fan told me that I’ve lost all credibility, based on my opinion that I would prefer Ian Kinsler as a second baseman over Dustin Pedroia. That was surprising, as I had no idea that I had any credibility to begin with.

Then, after my most recent article about Josh Hamilton, I was accused of being insane by a guy named Tim Dugan.

I don’t know Tim Dugan, but he responded to my thoughts via Twitter, telling me that Jamilton’s past performance is enough to warrant handing out a huge contract extension.

(He also told me that Jamilton’s intangibles (fan appeal, clubhouse presence) should also be taken into account, but we’ve already got a guy we pay for that stuff. His name is Michael Young.)

I stood by my assessment that he’s just too risky, but Tim went on to suggest that, although Jamilton is not asking for Albert Pujols money, he would be deserving of over $20-million a year if only he could stay healthy.

So, if Albert plays in 160 games a year and Jamilton can only play in 110, why not offer Jamilton 70%* of what Albert is making?

*70% of Pujols’ annual salary ($24-million/y) is roughly $16.5-million/y, which is still a ton of money.

This isn’t a completely ridiculous suggestion, except for 2 things:

1. Based on some of his recent comments, Jamilton doesn’t want to hear about his injury history. He believes in that big, dumb brain of his that he’s finally going be able stay healthy going forward.
2. You can’t even guarantee 110 games. In 2009, he only played 89 games. What are the odds that an athlete becomes less injury prone as he gets older?

I still don’t think the Ranger should give Jamilton the kind of money that he wants, but there are a lot of Rangers fans that do. I understand why those people feel that way, even if I don’t agree.

…

Something else that’s been floating around today is Yadier Molina‘s massive contract extension with the Cardinals ($75-million/5 years). I’ve been wondering what this will do to the catching market after the 2012 season. There’s a fair amount of talent hitting free agency, but that includes Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Napoli, there are just too many things we can’t know until after 2012. I just hope the Rangers get a fair shot at re-signing him if that’s what the club wants to do.

Press on, Rangers fans.

(Leave a comment or find me on Twitter @BleacherSeatsTX. As always, thanks to Baseball Reference for their invaluable resources.)