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The deal to trade Josh Hamilton back to the Texas Rangers has been finalized on Monday, according to MLB.com.
The Texas Rangers acquired OF Josh Hamilton from the Angels for cash considerations, according to the report. It was the LAA Angels’ Twitter account that first revealed the first was official on Monday.
Today the #Angels have traded OF Josh Hamilton to Texas for a player to be named later or cash consideration.
— Angels (@Angels) April 27, 2015
In order to make this deal go down, Anaheim is expected to eat $68 million of the $80 million still owed to the former AL MVP. Hamilton, 33, signed a blockbuster deal before the start of the 2013 season for $125 million over five years.
After not even half of the duration and only two seasons; the Angels decided to trade him back to the team where he won three Silver Slugger awards. Texas is where Hamilton lived up to the hype as the first overall pick in the 1999 draft by the Tampa Rays.
It didn’t work out as planned in Anaheim. In 2013, his BA plummeted to a career-low .250. He also had 49 less RBI than the season prior with the Rangers. Last season, Hamilton played in only 89 games as he dealt with a multitude of injuries. What ultimately forced him out of Anaheim was his relapse with alcohol and cocaine during the offseason as he is recovering alcoholic and drug-addict.
Hamilton hasn’t played a game this season as he has been dealing with a hurt shoulder. He is expected to be back around mid-May.
