The Red Sox showed interest in Josh Hamilton this offseason, but they weren’t willing to give the All-Star outfielder more than a three-year contract.
So far, it’s looking like Boston made a great decision. Daniel Nava has actually been the far more productive player during the first two-plus months of the season.
Hamilton is batting .216 with eight home runs, 18 RBIs, a .660 OPS and 0.1 WAR, while Nava is batting .293 with eight home runs, 38 RBIs, an .871 OPS and 1.6 WAR. Nava’s making $505,000 this season, while Hamilton is making nearly 34 times as much — $17,000,000.
Of course, it’s still early in the season and Hamilton still has four more years to earn his five-year, $125 million contract, but Nava is proof that teams don’t always need to sign high-priced free agents to win. The Red Sox are in first place with a 37-24 record while the Angels are in fourth at 26-34. (It certainly helps that the Red Sox have the far better starting rotation, as well.)
Check out the video above to hear WEEI’s Rob Bradford discuss the troubles of the 2013 Angels with NESN’s Tom Caron.
