Hale getting the “Hale out of Omaha”? (39.12)

[niles08]

With the surprising acquisition of Conner Hamilton from New Orleans, forums across the state of Nebraska quickly began buzzing about what that meant for John Hale. After all, Hale was just acquired from Des Moines on July 8th of last season around the same time it was announced he would be in the All-Star Game.

He struggled a bit in his 62 games with the club, with a batting average 20 points lower than in Des Moines and a slugging percentage over 1.25 lower.

The 24 year old however is a prime candidate to rebound this season back to his “Des Moines” form although there is some question about whether he will do in Omaha.

Hale is earning the minimum $500,000 this season and has 4 years of team control remaining after the 2039 season.

When Hale was asked by reporters about the rumors involving Hamilton and a potential trade he responded well, going as far as discussing looking forward to playing with Hamilton as he believes the acquisition makes the entire team better, but how else would you expect him to respond? He is a well-liked individual in the locker room, so ruffling feathers is the least of what would be expected.