Josh Hamilton

I sold off a year to early on the guy, but in some small way, I feel justified, relieved, vindicated, what ever you want to call it.

I'm sorry, but when the wait exceeds the payoff, I have to put my foot down. And speaking in terms of the six-month baseball calendar, the wait has exceeded the payoff, whether he missed part of that period with injury or not. Even if Hamilton hits eight home runs tomorrow, leading into the greatest two-month stretch of offensive firepower the world has ever seen, that's two months of goodness after four months of garbage.

In other words, for all the talent Hamilton has, for all we know he can do, he's running out of time to flip the switch and actually do it. Back in May, maybe I could afford to cross my fingers and hope he wakes up tomorrow, but not now. Now, I actually have to win. So you can keep running out Hamilton over guys like Andre Ethier, Juan L. Rivera and Ryan Ludwick if you want, but not me. I just can't take that leap of faith anymore.

Does that mean I'd cut Hamilton? Does that mean I'm calling him the worst player in Fantasy from now until the end of all eternity? No and no. I'm just saying I can't start him anymore, not until his actual performance justifies it. And if someone in my league was still willing to pay a relatively high price for him, I'd invite the discussion.

CBSSports.com

After Sunday night's 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Texas Rangers announced that they activated Josh Hamilton and optioned first baseman Chris Davis to Triple A Oklahoma City. Hamilton is expected to join the team in Los Angeles on Monday.

"Chris needs to get down there and get things together," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Josh has been down there for a few games now, and it's time for him to get back here and helping our team."

Hank Blalock will be the regular first baseman and Julio Borbon remains with the club, as a valuable speedster off the bench.

Foul Territory

That headline could be read a number of different ways i guess.

The outfielder will play for Frisco Monday night, bat leadoff and be the team's designated hitter. He'll return to Rangers Ballpark Tuesday and the Rangers will re-evaluate him. Hamilton will then join Oklahoma City for their series in Iowa. General manager Jon Daniels said there's a chance Hamilton could rejoin the Rangers this weekend for their series against Tampa Bay. Daniels said Saturday would probably be the earliest he could play.

Foul Territory

In two days, center fielder Josh Hamilton has gone from perhaps not being ready for the All-Star Game to possibly being ready to return to the Texas Rangers' lineup by next week and play in the Midsummer Classic.

Hamilton hit with the rest of the team during batting practice, launching a home run deep into center field on his last swing, and will run the bases the next two days in Arlington. He will be evaluated after that and possibly could head out on a rehab assignment as early as Sunday or Monday.

He believes he could be back for the Tampa Bay series next weekend. Manager Ron Washington said the seven-game road trip preceded the All-Star break is more realistic.

Foul Territory

Josh Hamilton is beginning to believe that playing in the All-Star Game or participating in the Home Run Derby next month in St. Louis is probably not a good idea. Hamilton, who underwent surgery two weeks ago to repair a torn abdominal muscle, is hoping to be ready to go after the All-Star break. But it doesn't look likely that he'll be playing in the All-Star Game despite being third in the latest fans voting update that was released on Tuesday.

"It comes down to, 'Do I want to go and do that?'" Hamilton said Tuesday before the Rangers game with the D-backs. "The best thing would be to decline going and let somebody else take that spot.

texasrangers.com

It could come as early as Friday in San Francisco. The outfieder said he's hoping to hit off a tee Friday before the game against the Giants. It would be Hamilton's first time to hit since having surgery to repair a partially torn abdominal muscle

Foul Territory

Josh Hamilton arrived from Philadelphia this evening with a scar from his abdominal surgery and a "plan of action."

He's already been on the treadmill. He'll begin baseball-related activities next week, 10 days after his operation. He's determined to speed up his return to the Rangers' lineup.

"Right now, they've got it set at four to six weeks," he said. "I'll let you guys think four to six weeks."

Josh is going to have surgery to repair his abdominal tear and is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks. I guess I'd rather have him just do it and ensure that he'll be OK in 6 weeks, rather than hope it fixes itself with rest. However, watching Byrd and Murphy out there everyday is going to get old really quick. Let's hope Davis can pick it up.

I already went over a Josh Hamilton overrated post, but I guess people were off reading his inspirational autobiography, “Baseball Between the Lines.” So I brought out the pirated Photoshop for a quick, “Don’t make me come back there!” Okay, this wonky .jpg is a bastardized Hype Cycle. If you don’t know what a Hype Cycle is, it’s because you didn’t go to Harvard. Don’t worry, neither did I. If I had, you would’ve heard about it a gazillion times. A hype cycle is this thingamaboob that tells you the life cycle of hype for certain technologies. Or technologiez, if you’re under 14.

Now I took this thingamaboob and I reinvented it for Josh Hamilton and the schmohawkian hype that is following him around as we head toward your 2009 fantasy baseball draft day. So let’s break down this Josh Hamilton fantasy baseball .jpeg-a-roo-ski into the different stages of hype, shall we?

he is fine ....

"I felt fine running," Hamilton said. "The next pitch, I went to take my secondary lead and when I went back something grabbed."

Hamilton walked to the Rangers' right-field clubhouse where he was examined by team physicians. He is day-to-day but said he could play Monday, if asked.

"It's no big deal," Hamilton said. "It just tightened up on me and we've got 800 spring training games left. These aren't important."