What if?
Hamilton's bullet electrified the crowd in Arlington, the way he electrified the crowd in New York on that July evening in 2008 in the Homerun Derby. Then, the next day, the Yankees decided to pitch around him, walking him four times. That's Barry Bonds-like respect.
If Josh Hamilton was still in a Reds uniform, how good would Cincinnati be? (Read this Enquirer article for some interesting stuff on Josh: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101017/SPT04/10180327)
As good as Hamilton is in center, he would be in left in Cincy, with Drew Stubbs remaining in center, in order to protect Hamilton's health. He would experience less wear and tear on his body, especially his legs, which would allow him to continue to produce the power we see from him. Can you imagine him putting up the kind of numbers he put up in 2008 (.304, 32 HR, 130 RBI) and 2010 (.359, 32 HR, 100 RBI) behind Joey Votto? The Reds already have one MVP candidate for years to come, and they could have had two.
Granted, at the time, the trade was not a bad one. The Reds needed pitching, and the Rangers need a fresh player to be the face of their team. Edinson Volquez was a 17 game winner, an All Star, and a true ace in 2008. He hasn't done much since, though he was out because of Tommy John surgery for the majority of that time period.
Nonetheless, with the now surplus of pitching, and the fact that Cincy seemingly has lacked another big time impact bat at times in the past year, many would redo that trade. I can't decide what I would do. Because Volquez is really the only pitcher on the staff that has the true potential to become a lock down ace (besides Aroldis Chapman). I think in the end, I would have kept Josh. Granted, hindsight is 20/20, but he's the most talented player I've ever seen, other than Ken Griffey Jr. and Albert Pujols.
I wish this was facebook so I could "like" this :D
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