Josh Hamilton is my favorite former crack addict

Don't bet on those 178.

i was gonna put [ / morbsbait ] after that "statistic"

He just fired his agent group because they aren't Christians.

Major League Baseball issued the following statement today regarding Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton:

"The issue of whether Josh Hamilton violated his treatment program was submitted to the Treatment Board established under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The MLB representatives and the Players Association representatives on the Treatment Board deadlocked on that issue, with MLB taking the position that Hamilton violated his treatment program and is subject to discipline by the Commissioner. Under the procedures of the Program, an outside arbitrator was appointed to break the tie, and the arbitrator ruled that Josh Hamilton's conduct did not violate his treatment program. As a result of that decision, the Office of the Commissioner is not permitted to suspend or impose any discipline on Hamilton. The Office of the Commissioner disagrees with the decision, and will seek to address deficiencies in the manner in which drugs of abuse are addressed under the Program in the collective bargaining process."

so, in English, he indulged in a different "drug of abuse" or what? or just w33d?

The ruling was based on the arbitrator’s interpretation of Section 4(C) of the Joint Drug Agreement, which handles violations of a players’ treatment program. Under that section, a player is said to have committed a violation if the player (a) refuses to submit to evaluations and followup tests; (b) “consistently fails to participate in mandatory sessions with his assigned health care professional”; (c) his health care professional tells Major League Baseball that the player is not cooperating; or (d) the player tests positive for a drug of abuse.

None of these applied to Hamilton. Rather, Hamilton self-reported his use of cocaine to Major League Baseball. Said use was characterized to NBC Sports.com by a person familiar with the proceedings as a “slip” as opposed to a “relapse.” Hamilton had, in the past, been involved in isolated incidents involving alcohol, which likewise did not result in any discipline.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/03/breaking-josh-hamilton-to-receive-no-discipline-in-the-wake-of-his-relapse/

i don't particularly like hamilton, but he obviously has a drug problem and obviously struggles with it constantly. MLB throwing a hissy fit for being prevented from punishing him for that is nagl

bow-tie otm

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/los-angeles-angels-josh-hamilton-no-suspension-deserved-better-040315

seriously, him coming forward about falling off the wagon is light years away from trying to cheat with steroids/hgh/etc. makes a mockery of the entire thing when mlb can't differentiate between the two.

@Alden_Gonzalez
#Angels president John Carpino: "It defies logic that Josh's reported behavior is not a violation of his current program." Oh boy.

semi-related but the thing with nfl prospect randy gregory really grinds my gears. Dude might have an actual drug problem yet the narrative is just "what a moron". Yeah, i know, pot is 100% wonderful and not at all addictive and one's abuse of it is just "moral failing"

man, fuck the angels

weird how all the drug testing is supposed to be confidential but is invariably leaked. weird how baseball is cool with peralta/melky/etc (not even going into the rapists the rays have employed) but shit gets awkward with players who aren't performing to their contracts

'resolution' anticipated, possibly as soon as tonight

seems to involve a trade

@BillShaikin
Source: Hamilton balked after #Angels were prepared to send him to Arizona.

rangers, apparently

Would not have expected that!

seems like a nice thing for the rangers to do, and if they're only paying $15m over three seasons, it's also a solid gamble

bring wash back too imo

As ugly as this went down, it will get uglier if Hamilton somehow gets it back together with the Rangers and helps them beat the Angels in the division.

i say we wait to cross that bridge

@ProductiveOuts
Matthews: 5/$50MM (1.7 WAR), Wells 4/$86MM (0.1 WAR), Hamilton 5/$125MM (1.4 WAR). ~$133MM paid post-trade to wash their hands of those guys

pujols tk

yeah and now the angels can get some good pitching.