The Cole Hamels trade market could be heating up as the MLB season moves out of April, as the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees all are possible options for the Philadelphia Phillies and GM Ruben Amaro Jr., as the team is likely to move the pitcher at the trading deadline this year.
Hamels was the main trade target this offseason and now that the 2015 has started, he has become the top pitcher on the trade market. According to Hardball Talk, the "market for Hamels" is getting bigger, as teams that were interested in him this offseason have started coming down with injuries. The Cardinals could be a potential option with Adam Wainwright injured, while the Dodgers are also dealing with injuries and could look at trades.
The Boston Red Sox were considered to be the top target for the Phillies this offseason and now they could step up again. The starting rotation was expected to be deep this year, but Wade Miley and others have struggled and that could force the team to look at a deal again. According to Hardball Talk, Hamels, Jordan Zimmermann, David Price and Johnny Cueto are the top trade targets this season. Zimmermann is coming into the final year of his deal, while Price and Cueto are also in need of new deals and could get moved ahead of free agency.
The Phillies have held on to Hamels for a while, as he has been mentioned in trade tumors for a couple years now. In basketball often times hanging onto a player only lowers his value, but right now it looks like the Phillies made the right move. The teams that were interested in the offseason are starting to deal with issues now and that could spark them to start giving away more in a trade than they previously wanted to. Wade Miley has not been sharp for the Red Sox and they could look at moving him into the bullpen, while the Dodgers have Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu both injured.
Hamels is 0-2 this season for the Phillies, but he has a 3.75 ERA and was fantastic during the second half of last season. The Red Sox already have an ERA near 6.00 this season and adding a pitcher like Hamels could really help stabilize the rotation and the bullpen with some moves. Hamels has over $100 million left on his deal and that could make him tough to move, but if he stays as a high quality pitcher, his contract is not as huge as it seems, as players like Max Scherzer and other aces are getting much more.
According to the Boston Globe, the Phillies have not had any major "trade inquiries" on Hamels in the past month, but that could change as injuries pile up for teams. Wainwrights is said to be out for the season for the Cardinals and that could force St. Louis to take a strong look at Hamels. Last season Hamels had one of his best seasons in his career, going 9-9 with a 2.46 ERA in 204.2 innings pitched with 176 and nearly 200 strikeouts.