Cole Hamels is the top trade target on the market this season and teams like the Boston Red Sox, NY Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox could be interested if the Philadelphia Phillies trade the pitcher and this comes as the team may consider trading Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Ben Revere and Jonathan Papelbon.
Hamels comes into the season after having one of his best years in 2014 and now he will be the top target at the trading deadline. Hamels comes in hot and Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports writes that if teams want Hamels, they should go after him now when there is not as much trade demand and when he is pitching so well. Hamels is 5-3 this season and has a 2.98 ERA and the Phillies are very likely trading the pitcher this year.
Ruben Amaro has held on to Hamels for a while and after plenty of speculation this offseason, it looks like he will be moved. According to Hardball Talk, Amaro and the Phillies are willing to get "creative" to get a deal done and that includes taking on some of the money in Hamels' contract. Hamels comes in with four years on his deal at around $90 million and it could end up as a five year deal depending on where he is traded. Hamels has a fifth year vesting option and that could make teams wary of bringing him in.
Hamels is still relatively young at 31 and he is throwing some of the best ball of his career over the last year. Hamels had a run through the second half of last season when he was one of the best pitchers in baseball and he ended the season with a 2.46 ERA and a 9-9 record with 198 strikeouts in just over 200 innings of work. The Red Sox appear to be the favorites for Hamels, as the pitching rotation has been a mess.
The Red Sox are dealing with bad starts for Wade Miley and Rick Porcello, while Justin Masterson is dealing with an injury. The Red sox reportedly made a serious offer for Hamels earlier in the offseason, as the Boston Globe reported that the deal did not have enough prospects for the Phillies liking. The Red Sox are looked at as the favorites, as Jon Heyman writes that they have a deep farm system and players that the Phillies would like. The Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals all could be interested, with St. Louis losing Adam Wainwright for the season.
According to CBS Sports, the Blue Jays have had interest in Hamels, but he is not looking to waive his no-trade clause for Toronto. Hamels has certain teams on that list and there was no deal that was close to getting done with Toronto. The Blue Jays have dealt with numerous injuries this season and they could be a target for other pitching on the market. Sportsnet reports that the Jays have not asked about Hamels in a while and that the team is not likely to pursue a deal if Hamels isn't interested.