Judging by Jon Daniels' and Nolan Ryan's comments in the Texas Rangers' end-of-season press conference on Tuesday, you'd have to believe the Rangers are planning on moving forward without Josh Hamilton, which should make plenty of Rangers fans happy after his late-season collapse, and plenty of other Rangers fans cringe due to their unbridled loyalty and affection toward him.
On 1310 AM The Ticket's Dunham and Miller show on Wednesday morning, they had a "Rangers roundtable" featuring The Dallas Morning News Rangers writers Evan Grant and Gerry Fraley on to discuss what to expect to see in the offseason after the Rangers' disappointing finish.
Of course, one of the most intense discussions involved Hamilton, and where he could end up in 2013 following his five-year stint with the Rangers, which included an AL MVP award in 2010.
The two resident seam-heads had some interesting takes on where Hamilton could end up. No talk of the of Los Angeles Dodgers and their seemingly bottomless pocketbooks, or the rebuilding Boston Red Sox or the upstart Washington Nationals was brought up.
Instead, the two pinpointed the Baltimore Orioles as a possible landing spot, as well as the Toronto Blue Jays, who have tons of money to spend but have had trouble talking people into coming to the sterile Rogers Centre environment. Fraley brought up a totally out-of-left-field destination as the Colorado Rockies, who apparently are trying to make decisions with their front office's Christian values, which plays right into Hamilton. Plus, pairing him with Carlos Gonzalez would do wonders for the Rockies' offense in Coors Field.
The Orioles scenario seems to be the most viable, as they'll have money to spend and a newfound confidence moving forward after the way things went this season. Add Hamilton to a team already challenging for the AL East crown, and the Orioles might just get over that hump and take down the Yankees.
