Report: MLB panel split on rehab for Josh Hamilton; one-year suspension is in play

A four-person panel appointed by Major League Baseball to decide how Josh Hamilton should be handled following his recent relapse that involved at least cocaine has reportedly reached a stalemate.

According to Mike DiGiovanna and Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, the four arbitrators -- two of them lawyers, two physicians -- are “deadlocked” in their opinion about whether Hamilton should be entered into a drug rehabilitation program. A fifth person will likely be brought in to break the tie.

This decision has big financial implications for Hamilton, as explained by DiGiovanna and Shaikin ...

Hamilton is scheduled to make $25 million this season. He is in the third year of a five-year, $125-million deal with the Angels. If he is sent into a rehabilitation program, he would be owed his full salary for 30 days, then half his salary for the next 30 days — a total of $6.2 million. If he is suspended and not in treatment, he would not be paid.

Major League Baseball also still has to decide how to classify Hamilton -- as a first-time drug offender or a fourth-time offender. If he’s considered a fourth-time offender, “at least one full season” is the recommended suspension length. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred gets the true final say.

CALCATERRA: If addiction is an illness — and it is — Josh Hamilton shouldn’t be suspended

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