The MLB trade deadline is not for quite a while, but Cole Hamels has already been receiving attention from teams and the Philadelphia Phillies could consider a deal with the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays or New York Yankees before the summer gets in full swing.
Hamels was the top trade target this offseason and he should be the top pitcher on the market once again, as the Phillies are in rebuilding mode. According to USA Today, Bob Nightengale reports that the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays or New York Yankees all could be potential landing spots for Hamels. Many of those teams have dealt with injuries already this season and that could spark GMs starting to make calls.
Hamels is coming off of one of his best seasons with the Phillies and he was basically lights out for the second half of the year. Hamels has been a trade chip for a couple years, but the Phillies have not received a package they feel is worthy. Hamels is still relatively young at 31 years old and his contract is not that bad compared to some other top pitchers out there, even with four years on it.
USA Today writes that John Mozeliak from the Cardinals and Ben Cherington from the Red Sox are likely to be aggressive, as both need starting pitching, although for different reasons. The Cardinals just lost ace Adam Wainwright for the season, while the Red Sox pitching has been off to a terrible start. Wade Miley has not been consistent along with Rick Porcello and overall the team has an ERA above five. The Red Sox have a deep farm system and they could look at pulling the trigger for Hamels.
According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox were the last team to make a "serious offer" to the Phillies, which came during the early spring. Other teams now are in the mix, as the Blue Jays have Marcus Stroman out for the season, the Yankees have Masahiro Tanaka on the DL and the Dodgers have Brandon McCarthy out for the season.
USA Today reports that the Phillies are "willing to be creative" and could pay part of Hamels salary to get a deal done. Earlier in the offseason, Hardball Talk reported that some general managers felt the Phillies' price was "too high" for Hamels and this development could help get a deal done. If the Phillies pick up money on the deal, the team trading for Hamels could be more willing to give up prospects that Philadelphia wants.
Hamels comes in after having a very strong season in 2014 and he has not had any major injury issues in his career. Hamels had made at least 30 starts in every season apart from his first two years in the majors and he went 9-9 last season with a 2.46 ERA and 198 strikeouts in just over 200 innings. Hamels will be the top trade target at the deadline and teams with injuries likely will be first in line to start talking to Philly.
