C.J. Wilson calls Angels statement on Josh Hamilton ‘kind of disheartening’
On Friday, Major League Baseball announced that Josh Hamilton would not be suspended after coming clean about a recent relapse involving drugs and alcohol. The decision was rendered by an independent arbitrator, whose task was to determine whether or not Hamilton violated his drug-treatment program after representatives from MLB and the MLBPA remained deadlocked on the issue.
Shortly after the league’s announcement, Los Angeles Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto, who signed Hamilton to his five-year, $125 million contract in 2012, released a statement in reaction to the ruling, which to many came across as insensitive and petty and has since left many critical of the organization’s conduct.
In fact, according to Pedro Moura of the Orange County Register, many of Hamilton’s teammates were left speechless yet undeniably affected when the statement played over the TV in the Angel Stadium weight room. Speechless, with the exception of C.J. Wilson, who has a friendship with Hamilton dating back to their time with the Texas Rangers.
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When prompted for a response to Dipoto’s statement, Wilson didn’t have to say much to say a lot.
Wilson called it “kind of disheartening,” before backing up a bit.
“The statement had multiple phases,” Wilson said. “I’m just going to focus on the last part of it, which was, ‘We are focused on Josh and his family.’ That’s the part that I agree with.”
For reference, here’s the entire statement from Dipoto.
The Angels have serious concerns about Josh’s conduct, health and behavior and we are disappointed that he has broken an important commitment which he made to himself, his family, his teammates and our fans. We are going to do everything possible to assure he receives proper help for himself and for the well-being of his family.
The general feeling is the Angels were more disappointed they’d have to cover the entirety of Hamilton’s $23 million salary in 2015 than they were in Hamilton’s action. Had Hamilton been suspended for 80 games, like Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana was later on Friday, that number would have been cut in half. For the entire season, they would have been off the hook completely.
The Angels aren’t exactly hurting for money, but that’s a significant chunk of change they could have instantly erased from off the books. From a business perspective, their frustration is somewhat understandable, especially considering Hamilton has been unable to stay healthy long enough to produce numbers matching the contract. In fact, Hamilton is expected to miss the entire month of April with a shoulder injury, so they’ll be getting no returns until May at the earliest.
As human beings, however, sometimes it’s necessary to put what’s best for business on the back-burner and focus on what truly matters, another human being who’s fighting a difficult battle.
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Unfortunately for Angels brass, it’s too late to take back their words or explain their true meaning. But they do have time to make it right, either through a new statement or actions that leave no doubt they’re better than this and are geniunely supporting Hamilton’s recovery.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
