After his drug relapse, Josh Hamilton is facing a suspension. When could his suspension begin and how long could it be?
After admitting recent use of cocaine, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton is facing a suspension. According to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports, Hamilton will be suspended for at least 25 games. If more, it will not reach the entire season’s length.
Hamilton’s recent use of drugs will now make him a repeat offender after a suspension of over two years that began in February of 2004 and ended in June of 2006. Hamilton was able to return to the majors after agreeing to terms of a treatment program. This relapse means Hamilton violated those terms.
Hamilton’s prior suspension was when he was in the minor league, but since he was on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ 40-man roster before it began, it was a major-league offense. Hamilton did not make an actual major league appearance (his debut) until 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds.
In the nine years since his return from suspension, Hamilton has undergone three drug tests a week. Before one of those, he came to the league to admit his cocaine relapse.
The MLB will show Hamilton some leniency in his suspension, but it is not because of his forthcoming to the league. MLB officials view of the situation is that Hamilton would have failed his drug test anyway, and that is the only reason he came to them first.
However, due to past issues while he was away from baseball, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wants to punish him while also not giving him enough time to relapse again.
Hamilton hasn’t had a public drug relapse since 2005, but had two alcohol-related relapses with the Texas Rangers while he was not playing. Those relapses did not violate his treatment program.
For Hamilton, this suspension couldn’t have come at a better time. Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com is reporting that the suspension would start at the beginning of the season, which would coincide with the rehabilitation of his recently operated on right shoulder. Even if he starts the season on the disabled list, his rehab could still end up lasting longer than his actual suspension.
Still, Hamilton will miss out on some money. Rosenthal and Morosi explain.
"Baseball’s joint drug agreement does not say explicitly that a player must forfeit his salary while suspended for a drug of abuse. However, it does stipulate that players retain their full salary for the first 30 days they are absent from the club while undergoing inpatient or outpatient treatment; they receive half their salary for days 31 through 60, then no salary retention for days in treatment thereafter.It’s unclear whether the time Hamilton spent away from the Devil Rays in 2004-06 would count toward that 60-day maximum; if so, he may forfeit his salary with the Angels while he is away this season. That is a significant consideration, as he’s scheduled to earn $25 million in 2015 —€” more than $4 million per month."
It is looking like the MLB will count Hamilton’s absence in 2004-06 against him, and according to Alden Gonzalez, Hamilton could miss out on close to $6.3 million if the suspension reaches 50 games.
There are still a lot of details to be ironed out here before making the suspension official, but from the looks of it, Hamilton might not miss out on too much time he wouldn’t have already missed after surgery.
At the end of the day, let’s just all hope Hamilton doesn’t relapse again and can go on playing and living a sober life.
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