This topic has been beaten to death so many times, it's comical. The Cubs never had Hamilton and never had any intention of having him. They sold their rule 5 pick to the Reds. All accounts are they had no idea who the Reds wanted. The Reds gave them the name moments before they made the pick. Hamilton is an amazing talent, but at the time last year he had only a few at bats at single A in which he had a 687 OPS. The Reds were in a position to take the gamble, the Cubs were not.