When the Los Angeles Angels placed Josh Hamilton on the trade block, it was essentially a ‘please take him’ offer. The Angels knew they were going to pay a hefty portion of his remaining contract, just to get out from under some of the albatross.
The Texas Rangers, where Hamilton experienced the best years of his career, came calling and completed the deal. But there was another team in the mix, this according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
No, the Los Angeles Dodgers weren’t going to attempt to acquire Josh Hamilton, but they wanted in on the deal for other reasons.
The Dodgers are believed to have discussed both straight deals and three-way scenarios that would have sent Hamilton to Texas but it’s apparent that ultimately they couldn’t quite pull off any sort of deal that satisfied the Angels. The cash-rich Dodgers’ main intention apparently was to pay some money while gathering prospects, not add Hamilton to their talented and crowded outfield mix; so even if a straight deal worked, presumably Hamilton would have gone to the Rangers eventually, anyway.
The deep-pocketed Dodgers have seemingly moved away from big money players like Matt Kemp, so it makes sense that they weren’t interested in acquiring the former All-Star, especially with their outfield jammed up already. Still, it would have been interesting to see what their plans were in regards to prospects.
