Josh Hamilton has earned $61 million in his eight-year career. He has made $34 million the past two years and is scheduled to earn more than $90 million over the next three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
But all the money in the world isn't going to matter if he can't maintain his sobriety. He'll tell you addiction nearly killed him once, and that will continue to be a major concern if he can't control himself.
That's Hamilton's reality.
Hamilton, who reportedly suffered a relapse involving the use of cocaine and alcohol in the offseason, met with MLB officials in New York last week to discuss the situation.
An arbitrator reportedly will decide this week whether Hamilton should enter rehabilitation after MLB and its players' association couldn't reach an agreement. If he's in rehab, he would be paid his full salary for 30 days and half his salary for the next 30 days. If he's suspended, he would not be paid.
On Thursday, the Major League Baseball Players Association came to Hamilton's defense, issuing a statement critical of news leaks that it calls "cowardly" and intended to hurt Hamilton "personally and professionally."
Hamilton has had multiple relapses over the years. There's reportedly a debate within MLB whether Hamilton should be classified as a fourth-time offender, a source told the Los Angeles Times, which could increase a suspension from 50 to 75 games up to at least one full season.
But the bottom line is, Hamilton is a good dude, a man who has never made excuses for his addiction. He has been up front about his battle.
None of that is surprising. Anyone who has had an addict in their lives better understands the power of addiction, which is why you wish Hamilton well.
He served a 28-month suspension that ended in June 2006 for violating the league's substance-abuse program. One of the conditions of Hamilton's reinstatement in 2006 was that he undergo drug testing three times a week
Those of us in Dallas watched the rebirth of Hamilton's career from a failed No.1 overall draft pick to winner of the American League's MVP with the Texas Rangers in 2010, all while becoming the face of baseball.
It was a stunning and improbable ascent, but watching Hamilton play baseball was a joy. One of my favorite parts of this job is watching the world's best athletes ply their craft.
And when they play in your city, whether it's Dirk Nowitzki, Emmitt Smith or Mike Modano, you get to study their work ethic. You see their commitment to greatness and the respect they command from other athletes.
You see their determination when they slump, and you get to pick their brains on what compels them to compete at the highest level every night. You see how they deal with pressure and how they respond to success and failure.
At his best, Hamilton was one of the few athletes who left me in awe.
We all know about his Home Run Derby performance during the 2008 All-Star break at Yankee Stadium and his four-homer game against the Baltimore Orioles in 2012.
And if the Rangers' bullpen had been able to save Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, Hamilton would have had an iconic moment for the ages, because his 10th-inning homer had given Texas the lead.
But the best game I ever saw him play occurred on an August night in 2010, when he rallied the Rangers from an 8-2 deficit to a 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox in extra innings
Hamilton had four hits, scored four runs and made two of the best catches you'll ever see. He stole a base, scored once on a fly to shallow center field and again from second on a groundout to tie the game in the eighth.
It was like he was playing against a bunch of little leaguers.
It's the only time I've ever wanted to stand in the press box and applaud a performance -- and it seems so long ago now.
Hamilton has appeared to be out of sync since September 2012, when he quit on the Rangers three times in the final few weeks of the season. It's why 43,000 fans booed him in his final at-bat.
Then he signed a five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels that offseason. He has been a complete bust. Hamilton is hitting .235 with 31 homers and 123 RBIs. He has struck out 266 times in 914 at-bats.
No matter how he performs on the field, however, you hope Hamilton can get his life together and be a productive member of society.
He has three daughters, who need their dad to teach them all of the things little girls learn from the first man they ever love. And he has a wife, who has been with him through the worst of his addiction and remains committed to him.
You hope he can get a handle on his addiction for them as much as for himself.
So if he needs to step away from baseball for a year to do so, then so be it.
His life is way too important to be a pawn in some money-driven power struggle between baseball and its players' union.