If Josh Hamilton is going to pay a price for his alcohol relapse, it’s going to be up to Major League Baseball to impose it. The slugger’s team, the Texas Rangers, probably won’t take any action.
Hamilton, a recovering alcoholic and 2010 American League Most Valuable Player, admitted to having more than a few drinks in Dallas on Jan. 30.
It was second off-season relapse — he had a more public binge in January 2009 — and met this week in New York with doctors for Major League Baseball and the players association, the Associated Press reported.
“Given what's happened in the past, at this point it's at their discretion," said Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, according to CBS News. "I think it's kind of based on what the doctors find, and what they recommend, whether they feel like this was something bigger."
Hamilton said he didn’t use drugs, a habit that caused him to sit out a three-year suspension from the sport from 2003 to 2005. Since the incident last week, Hamilton has been tested several times for drugs, as mandated by MLB.
