Padres Were Also in on Hamilton

If we learned one thing about A.J. Preller this past winter, it's that the former Rangers assistant general manager-turned San Diego Padres GM was willing to do pretty much anything and wasn't afraid to make a big splash.

He completely overhauled the Padres' roster, and specifically their outfield by acquiring Justin Upton, Matt Kemp and Wil Myers, not to mention starting pitcher James Shields, catcher Derek Norris and several other big-name players to try to turn the team into a contender in just one offseason.

Now it's come out that Preller and the Padres were in on the discussion to take Josh Hamilton off the Los Angeles Angels' hands before he was ultimately traded back to Texas after two subpar seasons with the Angels for basically pennies on the dollar.

Preller obviously has his own history with Hamilton, so it's no surprise he was in on the possibility of getting a reclamation project in Hamilton, who won the AL MVP award in 2010 with the Rangers. The Rangers were the place for Hamilton, though, and we'll get to see very soon if he's going to make the Rangers' leap of faith pay off.

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