02/25/2015,
Angels slugger Josh Hamilton is meeting with Major League Baseball officials Wednesday regarding a disciplinary issue,according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
Although no specifics about the matter have been divulged, FOX Sports baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal tweeted the matter is “worse” than PED use.
Asked a baseball executive if Hamilton’s discipline was for PEDs. His response: “Worse.” The executive declined to elaborate.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 25, 2015
The Angels are allowing Hamilton to remain in Houston — at a friend’s ranch — to rehabilitate from Feb. 4 surgery on his right shoulder, an odd arrangement considering most players remain with their teams while recovering from injuries during spring training or the regular season.Hamilton has a troubled past that includes a well-chronicled four-year addiction to cocaine and alcohol. He was suspended from baseball from 2003 to 2005, but returned to develop into a feared slugger, hitting .305 and averaging 28 homers and 101 runs batted in a season for Texas from 2008 to 2012 and leading the Rangers to the World Series in 2010 and 2011. He won American League most valuable player honors in 2010.[snip]Hamilton, the first pick of the 1999 draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, suffered alcohol relapses in 2009 and 2012, but those transgressions did not count as offenses under the current drug policy. One condition of Hamilton’s reinstatement was that he be tested for drugs three times a week.
Hamilton so far has not lived up to the five-year, $125 million deal he signed with the Angels in 2013. He owns a .25/.316/.426 slash line in two seasons with the Angels.