Cole Hamels has been mentioned in trade rumors this MLB offseason and teams like the San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Dodgers could be options for the Philadelphia Phillies, as the team wants to trade the pitcher ahead of the 2015 season and this comes as Max Scherzer and James Shields are on the free agent market.
Hamels has four years and about $100 million left on his contract along with a vesting option and while that is a lot, it will cost less than what Scherzer will be on the market. According to Hardball Talk, CSN Philly reporter Jim Salisbury said in a video that the Phillies are still trying to trade Hamels and they are in "stare downs" with a number of teams about packages.
The report says that the Padres, Cardinals, Rangers, and Red Sox are the four main teams interested in Hamels and that the Phillies are looking for solid prospects in any deal. The trade of Hamels means that the team likely needs to pick up his $20 million club option for 2019 and while that will make things tough, some of the teams interested could be willing to pick up that money. The Padres have been in the mix for a while and they could look at adding Hamels to help solidify their rotation moving forward into 2015.
Hamels is coming off of another solid season and with the Phillies still in between rebuilding and trying to contend, there is a good chance they trade the pitcher this offseason. Before the Red Sox made all their moves they were considered a solid option for the deal, but now that is unlikely after they picked up Justin Masterson, Wade Miley and Rick Porcello. Buster Olney at ESPN and Hardball Talk report that the San Diego Padres have talked to the Phillies about Hamels, but that no deal is close to happening now.
The Padres have made the most dramatic moves of anyone this offseason, acquiring Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton in a flurry of trade deals. The team is looking to contend now and they could look at adding Hamels if they feel that the deal is right. Hardball Talk reports that the Red Sox had some earlier interest in Hamels, but that has likely tapered off, while the Padres are not currently interested in flipping one of their outfielders for the pitcher and could look at other prospects for the deal.
Last season Hamels went 9-9 but he had over 200 innings pitched, 198 strikeouts and a 2.46 ERA for a bad team and now he could be poised to move to a contender. The Padres aren't on the no trade list and the Red Sox are, but that doesn't mean he won't get dealt to Boston. Hamels is from San Diego and could be open to a move to California. The Padres have been as active as anyone this offseason and if they are going all in, this could be the next deal they look to make. The Yankees have an outside shot at Hamels, as they may not have enough prospects to make the deal happen.
