MLB Trade Rumors: Phillies Need to Trade Cole Hamels
The Philadelphia Phillies are five games under .500. They are in last place in the National League East. Three of their star players, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, are all on the disabled list. They’re hemorrhaging money and prospects at a frightening pace. And then there’s Cole Hamels.
Hamels is 10-3 with a 3.03 ERA this season. He is striking out 9.2 batters per nine innings while walking just 2.2. In his career, Hamels is 84-57 with a 3.36 ERA. Oh, and he’s just 28 years old – young for a Phillies player. Philadelphia would certainly love to keep Hamels, but he will just be too expensive. It seems odd to say, but the Phillies have so many other contract commitments, they don’t have the available payroll to pay Hamels what he will certainly command in free agency.
According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Hamels will likely be looking for the type of money C.C. Sabathia got with the Yankees (8 years, $182 million). Matt Cain just became the highest paid right-hander in the game, and Hamels may also use that as a jumping-off point for his contract negotiations.
This season, Hamels is making $15 million. He is looking for a large raise, the type of raise we would normally look to the Yankees or the Phillies to pay. The Phillies, though, have to go in a different direction, and letting Hamels hit free agency makes little sense. They would get draft picks in return – as long as they made a qualifying offer, which they would – but the Phillies could possibly get a lot more in return by trading Hamels to a competitor this summer.
Philadelphia has stacked their team with aging veterans. When the contracts were signed and the players were traded to bring in these stars, not all of them were getting old. Now they are, and Philadelphia doesn’t have the prospects to replenish their team. They have to start somewhere, and a trade involving Cole Hamels could be that starting point.
Back on June 13th, the Sporting News hypothesized that the Dodgers could go after Hamels in free agency. They may also be willing to pursue him in a trade to ensure their surprising run this season continues. Hamels’ desire to play on the West Coast means the Angels could be a player as well. However, another team looking for a last minute push may take Hamels on as a half-season rental and then let him hit free agency.
No matter where he goes, the Phillies need to explore trading him sooner rather than later. And they almost can’t let him just play out this season and walk during free agency.
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