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Rangers show they still believe in Josh Hamilton - Sports - The Boston Globe Rick Scuteri/USA Today Sports Josh Hamilton is working his way back from shoulder surgery at the Rangers spring training complex in Surprise, Ariz. A lot of it made sense to Rangers general manager Jon Daniels: the reasonable financial commitment, the return to an environment in which Josh Hamilton thrived, the belief that there s something left in the former MVP.Daniels said he has no magic potion to sell on why Hamilton spent five incredibly productive years in Texas and two not-so-productive ones in Anaheim. Continue reading below It s hard to put a finger on it, Daniels said. I certainly wouldn t want to say that we did certain things that the Angels didn t. It was just the environment and the culture that Josh felt comfortable with here. I think we all feel better in an environment that we think is comfortable for us. In hindsight, it s obvious something broke down in Anaheim and it s obvious Hamilton should never have left the comfort of the Rangers. For years, Hamilton had his accountability coach, Johnny Narron. They clicked. Both are from North Carolina. He and the Hamilton family knew one another. There was a trust there. Continue reading it below View Graphic Graphic: Sounds like a plan No team bolstered their lineup as much as the historically weak-hitting San Diego Padres this season. They brought in a new outfield Justin Upton from Atlanta, Matt Kemp from the Dodgers, and Wil Myers from Tampa Bay. Other additions include former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks and catcher Derek Norris. After one month, it looks like the changes are a hit. Daniels said Narron went off to pursue his own career as a hitting coach with the Milwaukee Brewers (where he was fired after two years). Daniels said there was no attempt to try and secure Narron s services now that Hamilton is back with the Rangers. Daniels said that Shayne Kelley will now be Hamilton s accountability coach, a role he served after Narron left Texas and also in Hamilton s first season with the Angels.So what do these guys actually do? We re going about it differently now, Daniels said. Josh has never had issues in the clubhouse, so Shayne will be around him mostly off the field. He ll have an adjoining room to him on the road so if he needs him, or wants to go out to dinner with him, Shayne will be there. If Josh is going out with teammates, maybe he won t be there. He s there when Josh needs him. Hamilton and the Rangers parted company after the 2012 season. Daniels said he tried to structure a shorter contract, one with incentives and a vesting option, than the five-year, $125 million deal the Angels gave Hamilton. Daniels knew that Hamilton had more lucrative offers, but he thought the comfort of staying in Texas would appeal to him to stay. But that wasn t the case. There were no hard feelings.After their last-place showing in 2012, the Red Sox met with Hamilton at the winter meetings but didn t want to commit to a high-maintenance player even one coming off a 43-homer, 128-RBI season.The Red Sox needed star power. And Hamilton certainly would have fit the bill. With the resources the Red Sox spend on players mental health (they were one of the first teams to have an in-house psychologist), it seemed like a decent fit.Instead, the Red Sox opted to spread their money around to seven free agents, among them Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli, a former Ranger who called Hamilton the best player he s ever seen.In 164 games with the Red Sox, Victorino has an OPS of .761, plus a Gold Glove. In 240 games with the Angels, Hamilton had an OPS of .741.Hamilton is the one who, in his second year in Anaheim, minimized the role of the accountability coach. Narron was actually hired by the Angels last season to serve as the hitting coach for their Triple A affiliate. Narron spent time with Hamilton in spring training this year, but would not speak about Hamilton s latest relapse or the time they spent together.The Angels made it known Hamilton was available. The Rangers made perfect sense. They got Hamilton back for about $7 million per year over the final three years of the deal. The union approved a deal in which Hamilton can opt out after 2016, but Hamilton will likely stay since he ll be paid $32.4 million.The Angels are on the hook for $68 million and the union allowed Hamilton to lop off $6 million from the final total to make the deal happen http://www.torbluejaysstore.com/blue-jays-bo-schultz-jersey. Normally, as in the A-Rod/Red Sox case in 2003, the union would balk at a salary reduction, but this was a special case and the union justified it because there is no state income tax in Texas, as opposed to the highest income tax in the country in California.Angels owner Arte Moreno kept saying he didn t know whether his team wanted Hamilton back after the player returned from injury (he was not subjected to suspension by MLB). Well, they didn t, even though several players wanted the slugger back.Hamilton is currently at the Rangers spring training site in Surprise, Ariz., rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder. He will likely rejoin the Rangers at the end of the month, after he plays about 10 games in the minors.The question is, what does he have left?Daniels thinks Hamilton still has the ability, when healthy. I know all the risks and reasons why not to do it his performance the last two years, his age, the injuries but when healthy and in the right state of mind, nothing would surprise me, Daniels said. Josh is capable of unique things on the field. It s a unique circumstance. We hope our lineup will help Josh and we hope Josh can help our hitters as well. ONE-STOP SHOPPINGPhillies are hot to sell, but there s no fire saleThere are several teams in need of starting pitching, and the Phillies, according to one official, are waiting with open arms for a trade partner, be it for Cole Hamels and/or Jonathan Papelbon, or even second baseman Chase Utley, who has 10/5 status.The Phillies continue to scout the Red Sox farm system, particularly center fielder Manuel Margot. But the Sox may not be willing to give him up. Nor are they likely to part with Blake Swihart, who continues to hit while improving as a catcher.The Phillies would likely want lefthanders Brian Johnson or Eduardo Rodriguez in a deal. They are not said to be huge fans of lefty Henry Owens.Hamels pitched in St. Louis last week and told reporters how much he liked the vibe at Busch Stadium, a good pitchers ballpark. Hamels didn t bite on whether he would mind being traded to St Louis, saying, I don t think I m going to address that. But he did say about Busch Stadium, This is a great stadium. It s pure enjoyment to go out there. You know you re playing for a great team every year. Every year I ve pitched against them, they re at the top of the division. They ve won World Series, all the postseason appearances. I m living in the moment and that s kind of all I can do, he added. In order to be accountable for what I have to do, I can t think in the future or the past. I ve got to be here in the present. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro has made it clear that he s not giving anyone away. What people don t understand is nobody is holding a gun to our head to trade a player, the GM told MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Typically, if a team wants a player, they typically will try to go get that player. If you really wanted to make a trade with the Phillies or any other club, you would be the aggressor. Amaro said he s not afraid of risking injury to his trade chips. The reality is this: There are a lot more chances for the 29 other teams to get people hurt than the one or two guys that we have, he said. That s basic math. Apropos of nothing1. Brandon Wells, son of former Red Sox lefty David Boomer Wells, finished his career at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy with a one-hit shutout over Lesley University last Thursday. He struck out seven. The senior righthander walked the first batter of the game but retired the next 15 batters. Wells carried a no-hit bid before surrendering a single with one out in the sixth inning.2. Adam Wainwright is out for the season because he got hurt while hitting. Is the DH looking any better now for the NL?3. The Phillies finished April with an 8-15 record, the first time since 2002 (9-18) they ended the first month with single-digit wins. They also batted .180 (31 for 172) with runners in scoring position and posted a run differential of minus-46. 4. According to major league sources, the tampering investigation brought by Bays owner Stuart Sternberg against the Cubs for their hiring of Joe Maddon was reinvestigated when Sternberg didn t like the first verdict that exonerated the Cubs. In the end, the conclusion was the same there was no tampering in the Maddon negotiations. 5. Interesting, ironic, call it what you will, but Alex Rodriguez tied Willie Mays on the career home run list here in Boston Brett Cecil Jersey. The Red Sox could have signed Mays in 1949, but owner Thomas A. Yawkey didn t want a black ballplayer. And so the dream outfield of Mays and Ted Williams never materialized.6. The Giants brass will present to Pablo Sandoval his World Series ring when the Red Sox go to California next week. The Sox will be playing the A s and the team usually stays in San Francisco. It will be Sandoval s third championship ring. It may be an interesting meeting with Sandoval apparently holding a grudge against Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans, both of whom will make the presentation.7. The Red Sox need to make this right and retire No. 3 for Jimmie Foxx and No. 26 for Wade Boggs, two great players who are represented as Red Sox in the Hall of Fame.Updates on nineAnn Heisenfelt/Associated PressCould the Twins move first baseman Joe Mauer to the top of the order?1. Joe Mauer, 1B, Twins Mauer as a leadoff hitter? It s being discussed within the Twins offices and by manager Paul Molitor. Mauer had two plate appearances as a leadoff hitter in 2008, resulting in a walk and a sacrifice fly. You can go to your sabermetrics experts and a lot of them have him high in the order Edwin Encarnacion Jersey, Molitor said. How that would play in terms of him getting chances to get hits with men in scoring position and do some other things he s been doing pretty well, I m not sure. There are some things about that as a consideration. I don t know if it is something that will happen or not, but we re looking at various options. 2. Allen Craig, OF/1B Scouts are still waiting for Craig to bust out and it appears the Red Sox are going to play him more to lift his trade value. May is usually good for him a .335 career hitter, just behind Ichiro Suzuki (.336) for highest average for the month among active players. Craig got off to a poor start, but not because he isn t working hard. Before the Yankees series started on Friday, Craig was out for early batting practice in an effort to bust out of his malaise. He then hit his first homer of the season.3. Dan Uggla, 2B, Nationals We first brought you the story of Uggla s medical breakthrough this past offseason, when he received treatment for an imbalance he had after two concussions, which contributed to his career spiraling downward. The Braves ate $18 million of his contract (they re paying him $12.7 million this season alone) and released him two years ago. Last week, he drove in five runs against the Braves in one game and then two more the next. The Nationals signed him to a minor league deal in December. Best money they ve spent in a while.4. Nick Swisher, DH, Indians Swisher is on rehab assignment after recovering from double-knee surgery last Aug. 20, and it appears he could be activated by the Indians this week. And boy, do they need him. The Indians offense has been awful. Swisher signed a four-year, $56 million deal in 2013. He hit .246 with 22 homers and 63 RBIs in his first season in Cleveland, but his knees deteriorated and he slumped to a .208 average in 97 games last year.5. Ron Roenicke, manager, Brewers Will he survive the Brewers 5-17 April? Couple that with Milwaukee s 9-22 collapse at the end of last season, and Roenicke could be in big trouble. You try to direct [the players] in the best way you can, he said last week. You try to build up their confidence and make sure you do everything you can to get the best out of them. That s the job of the coaches and that s my job also. My job beyond that is worrying about the team and trying to get the chemistry there and the motivation there. And that s the thing that I m not happy with. I ve tried basically everything, and we re not playing any better. 6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C, free agent Marlins GM Dan Jennings thought he had trade possibilities for Salty, who was designated for assignment last week. He s currently in a 10-day period in which he could be traded, claimed, or put on waivers. Salty simply wasn t hitting well enough to keep his job and was replaced by rookie J.T. Realmuto.7. Carlos Quentin, OF, Mariners Quentin, long beset by injuries, is in the process of retiring, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Only 32, Quentin has $8 million remaining on a contract that was originally signed by the Padres. Quentin was a two-time All-Star with the White Sox before injuries slowed his production. He entered the weekend hitting .176 with Triple A Tacoma.8. Jon Lester, LHP, Cubs He looked like the old Lester in Friday s 1-0 win over Milwaukee, allowing just three hits over seven innings. He s almost there, catcher David Ross said. His cutter is still a little inconsistent. But his fastball had more life. It s allowed him to make mistakes and get away with it. 9. Deven Marrero, SS, Red Sox The Sox are trying to create roster versatility by using players at different positions. Marrero, an excellent shortstop, is the team s latest experiment, having gotten his first action at second base. But one NL scout thinks this is a bad idea. He s a terrific athlete so he ll do well at the other positions, but this is the type of guy where you know he s a terrific shortstop so why mess around with that? said the scout. He s got high confidence as a shortstop and now you re reducing that confidence level by making him play positions he s not used to. Extra inningsFrom the Bill Chuck files: In Clay Buchholz s first five starts, there have been 18 Red Sox relief appearances. ... Also, Jeff Samardzija finished April with a 1-2 record, a reminder that he has never won more than nine games in a season. ... Happy birthday, Nate Spears (30) and Ryan Dempster (38).Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report. Wake up with today's top stories. Want each day's news headlines delivered fresh to your inbox every morning? Just connect with us in one of the following ways:FacebookGoogleSubmit & return to storyPlease enter a valid emailBostonGlobe http://www.torbluejaysstore.com/blue-jays-aaron-sanchez-jersey.com will never post anything without asking. Privacy Policy Don't miss any of your favorite stories again. Read the stories that matter to you as much as you want, whenever you want when you subscribe to BostonGlobe.com. Get full access today for just 99¢ High-quality journalism from the region’s largest newsroom Convenient access across all of your devices Today’s Headlines daily newsletter Subscriber-only access to exclusive offers, events, contests, eBooks, and more Less than 25 a week

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