FRIDAY, 12:17am: The Mariners have engaged in some “dialogue” regarding Hamels, Morosi tweets, though there’s no indication at present that they’re particularly likely to end up with him.
THURSDAY, 8:37pm: It’s “increasingly possible” that the Rangers will strike a deal involving veteran starter Cole Hamels in advance of the All-Star break, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). This year’s mid-summer classic is scheduled for July 17th.
It has long been apparent that Hamels was in position to be traded. The Rangers stumbled out of the gates and never made up ground. Meanwhile, the 34-year-old southpaw has produced good results with good-enough peripherals. With just one option year left on his high-priced contract, he’s a clear trade candidate.
While this evening’s report hints at some movement, much is still unknown. It’s largely unclear just which teams have interest, though there are a limited number of “buying” organizations and most of them could stand to add a rotation piece. It remains to be seen whether any will really push to get Hamels on board well in advance of the deadline. There’s no indication that a single suitor has emerged to this point.
It is also not yet apparent how much of an obstacle Hamels’s contract situation will pose. He can block trades to twenty teams. While he indicated a willingness to facilitate a move, he also could still seek some additional inducement. Teams will surely not be enthused with the fact that Hamels is earning a hefty $22.5MM salary this season. There’s yet greater potential for complication from his $20MM club option for 2019, which comes with an unusually large $6MM buyout.
Of course, those matters wouldn’t be quite so important were it not for the fact that Hamels is no longer the pitcher he was when the Rangers originally acquired him. We examined some of these limitations a month back. For the most part, the situation remains the same: Hamels has restored most of his lost ability to get swings and misses, but he’s giving up far too many homers and has perhaps been a bit fortunate to carry a 3.61 ERA. Opponents this year own only a .266 batting average on balls in play (well below the mark Hamels has allowed in his career) despite making hard contact at a lofty 44.1% rate (by far the highest Hamels has permitted).
To be sure, Hamels still warranted a top spot in our recent list of the top fifty summer trade candidates. But that’s due in no small part to the fact that few high-end rental starters seem likely to be made available. Other pitchers — J.A. Happ and Tyson Ross, in particular — are arguably preferable given their strong numbers and cheaper contracts.
In fairness, there are some factors that point in favor of Hamels, too. He has a lengthy track record as a standout pitcher and had reeled off seven-straight 200+ inning campaigns before missing some starts last season. Hamels also has ample postseason experience, carrying a composite 3.48 ERA in 98 1/3 total playoff innings.
bigdaddyhacks
Seems like a no brainer for the mariners, as long as the rangers eat some of that salary or accept lower level prospects.
skrockij89
I wish but I doubt it. Mariners lack the prospects and might not want to pick up the salary, even though they could afford it.
southi
If a team takes Hamels salary they probably won’t have to pay much at all in prospect price.
Okie_baseball
Yeah but I doubt we are after that. Honestly I don’t think the Rangers care much about the money as it is only this year, maybe next year, that we would have to eat any of it (i.e., Texas isn’t trying to compete next year so who cares?). I think they eat a sizable portion of $$$ in order to get a better prospect return.
jkoms57
I cant see Hamels getting dealt. Cost too much and the upsides not there.
Hes pitching good, not great.
Contract-wise, itd be a trade similar to last years Verlander trade.
That said, even tho Hamels is a proven Playoff asset, i dont think teams will find his salary worth it, nor do i think Rangers will find prospect returns good enough to be willing to eat a large portion.
Hopefully im wrong, would love to see him on a contender, but this trade makes more sense in the offseason.
bobtillman
To the Red Sox fo r Swihart…..Rangers get HOFer…..
ShieldF123
No one wants Swihart…
Pax vobiscum
Hysterical since the Red Sox wouldn’t part with him when the Phillies were trying to negotiate a trade in 2015.
iverbure
Swihart was a switch hitting catcher who was thought to be a potential Allstar catcher. Just because in hindsight he didn’t turn out still doesn’t mean they should have gave up that value. It’s about teams have figured out not give up a lot of top prospects for rentals who rarely put you over the top.
Pax vobiscum
That wasn’t a mid-season trade discussion. It was prior to the start of the 2015 year and in hindsight he would have given the Sox more innings than any pitcher on the roster, including that ace Wade Miley.
Bruin1012
The only flaw in your argument about Swihart was oh I don’t know the other guy someone named Betts that they wanted for Hamels. People tend to forget about that. As a Red Sox fan I’m really glad they took a hard pass on that one.
User 4245925809
Nor is Hamels an upgrade over Steven Wright, even Pomeranz when he finally gets back healthy. NO reason for Boston to look at him period.
Boston has Johnson/Velazquez as swingmen already behind Pomeranz/Wright for the 5th starter.
ShieldF123
Though I do appreciate the sarcasm
simschifan
If Darvish is out maybe the Cubs?
Kycubfan
I like this alot
Solaris601
I don’t think the Cubs would even bristle over Hamels’ $20M option for 2019 as they’ll still need him next year to pick up Chatwood’s and (presumably) Darvish’s slack into next year.
Michael A. Gould
Rangers would most likely include $6m in any deal, as that’s the amount a team would pay to decline the option for next year, or it would make his next year’s deal a palatable $14million.
madmanTX
Cubs…haven’t you had enough fun with ex-Ranger pitchers this season?
dewssox79
lol the cubs and their fans loving this. Same fans that loved darvish and are now hating him.
simschifan
I don’t hate him, he’s injured. If he’s out for the year or just slightly less they need someone who can replace him. He’s here for awhile obviously
fasbal1
Be shocked if hes not a Yankee, typical trade target of Yankees and he would help them a bunch
iverbure
He’s not gonna be a Yankee unless the rangers retain a majority of that salary. The Yankees will not go over the Lux tax this year.
Groucho
The Yankees are among the 10 teams Hamels can veto. Waiving his no-trade to any of those 10 almost certainly means that team picks up his 2019 option.
Jimcarlo Slaton
Maybe not, he could be less money obsessive than most other athletes.
He recently gave away a $10 million home to charity before ever moving in.
gorav114
Lol, he gave away an abandoned project because it was better for tax purposes then trying to recover a few million selling the dump.
jbigz12
And optics. He dumped a lot of cash into a place he wasn’t going to live and never finished. He took advantage of the tax breaks and it was a good PR move. Not saying Hamels isn’t the charitable type, because he has a foundation as well but there’s probably some other motivations there with the house.
outinleftfield
20 teams.
driftcat28 2
I think the Yankees will acquire either Hamels or Fulmer
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
Trade Hamels to the Orioles that would fix his wagon
#JoinTheMisery
Ironman_4life
So he can go 1-8 with a 7.50 era rest of season.
Judge Judy
Guess the great Luis Cessa’s days are numbered…
xabial
Hi Troll,
It was a spot start, intended to give CC 2 days rest with the say off today. Can’t wait until we sweep the Red Sox.
Does the great $217M pitcher, play against his kryptonite? (No not fortnite) think he’ll get skipped vs NYY second time in a row. He’s in a groove right now. Why ruin it with 7 ER? 1IP game NYY? He plays well against every team but NYY. They always get to him.
xabial
day* off
Kylemc33
Quite bitter for a guy whose team is in second place
xabial
Trolls are just annoying.
Do think the Price decision will be something to watch. Honestly, taking Judy’s bait aside, I would skip him. He really is in a groove right now. But every time he plays against NYY.. He epically implodes. But they made a big deal out of his last start-skipped vs NYY, so idk.
xabial
I can’t wait^ May the best team win!
Price hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs since May 3, and his 3.66 ERA is the lowest, since April. respect the talent.
But bad things happen when he against NYY…
xabial
“Quite bitter for a guy whose team is in second place.”
The division is tied now. This is why down/up votes are meaningless. 1 game division lead, is meaningless.
ericm25
maybe he’ll come back to the phils. no problem paying that contract.
wishing thinking though.
madmanTX
Teams take Hamels, his full salary and give up some top prospects or see you at the winter meetings.
jdgoat
The funny thing is that 10 years from now when the Rangers are exiting their rebuild you’ll be saying the exact opposite thing and be trying to steal other teams mediocre players for nothing.
Okie_baseball
This MadmanTX guy annoys the heck out of me. Has to be a twelve year old right?
Bruin1012
Lol not going to happen the Rangers will either get very little or have to eat salary to get anything good in return.
iverbure
Madmax you ought to look at the returns for expensive decling starters. Nobody in baseball wants to take on 20 mil players let alone decling ones.
CCSabbatical
Hamels and Beltre to Philly makes a lot of sense, not sure what it would cost though. Philly doesn’t have a lot of prospect capital but they have plenty of money to absorb the contract(s).
Pax vobiscum
Come August the Yankees will need him more.
Caseys.Partner
The Phillies need for those two players is:
Z E R O
Priggs89
He’s due for some major regression. Good luck acquiring team.
Okie_baseball
Based upon what? The guy can still pitch, ate the Yankees alive last time he played them. Better option than Sunny Gray these days for sure.
ray_derek
Based on opinion I’m guessing.
iverbure
Based on FIP. He’s suppose to have a 5.13 ERA.
User 1104686089
That’s not how statistics work. Advanced metrics like an index suggest directionality, not definative numbers. Hamels isn’t an ace by any means but there is nothing that suggests he’s trending in the wrong direction, especially if you look at recent performances. He’s still perfectly capable of having some really nice games obviously. Buyers should expect some blips true, but Cole Hamels has never really “regressed,” you gotta look at a longer data frame (career norm). He’s still the Yanks #3 easily, maybe higher.
bronxbombers
He’d probably be the Yankees #5. Sonny has pitched much better since May. Tanaka coming back Cc fighting Father Time and sevy being sevy
brandons-3
If the Braves are serious about having the money for the right additions, it’d be Hamels and Beltre. Starting rotation’s been roughed up a bit lately.
Pax vobiscum
The Braves are for real and have a stacked farm system unlike the Phillies. If they needed an upgrade I’m sure that they could do better than this pair.
bucketbrew35
You’re under valuing the Phillies farm system by quite. Even with a lot of recent graduations to the MLB it is still a top 10 maybe top 8 farm.
JimboBob
Nope.
JimboBob
Yeah and Liberty Media is going to sign off on acquiring an additional $13-$14M in payroll this year alone?
Herrera’s remaining $4.5M salary was supposedly too rich for them.
brandons-3
That’s the idea. AA implied there’d be money if it was the right fit. I highly doubt that to be factual, as do I doubt they’ll make a significant splash this offseason despite the promises of big tickets.
acmeants
Heck no on Hamels to the Braves unless they trade Terhan.
RockHard
Tyson Ross having more appeal to a contender than Hamels is a really bad joke..
flippinbats79
Why would anyone want Hamels when they could have Happ? Jays are probably willing to eat the whole salary. He’s been one of the best starters in the league this year. Ideal rental
Bruin1012
Yes I agree Happ is easily the better target between Hamels and Him. My guess is there will be a few teams calling on Happ. He costs less money and is the better pitcher at this point in their careers.
juicemane
Whoa! Jerry is wheeling and dealing the Mariners into the gutter for another 20 years!
Slothcliff Hokum
MLB standings, man. MLB standings.
cp86
Traded to the Angels and then will require surgery due to freak injury getting to the stadium. Angels can’t catch a break this year
mcsarcastic
I was about to post something similar. The Angel injury situation is just NUTS this year!
madmanTX
Karma for all those Angels fans ragging on the Rangers about their injuries?
daved
Hamels is still a serviceable pitcher. He will give you 6 innings and keep you in the game. The risk is minimal. His contract for 2019 calls for $20M, IF he pitches 200 innings this year. He’s at 97 right now. The buyout is $6M. This would be a factor in the negotiations of a trade. Who pays this?
outinleftfield
He has a partial no trade clause that includes 20 teams, so if the Rangers find a suitor among those 20 teams, it is likely that Hamels asks for the option year to be exercised as a condition of him approving the trade
madmanTX
Hamels for King Felix and Nick Rumbelow.
skrockij89
Felix has 10-5 rights though. He currently makes more than Hamels and has zero trade value.
joseph ray meyer
hamels and colon ross for sano and minor league right-hander nick anderson and luke bard
joseph ray meyer
felix hernandez to twins and luke bard inf nick gordan pitcher nick anderson from twins to rangers and from rangers b. colon cole hamels and tyson ross to twins for sano mejia and busenitz and may fernando romero and kohl stewart to white sox for abreu tim anderson and giolotti or dozier may busenitz and kohl stewart and romero to whitesox for shields anderson abreu giolioto and to the cubs zack duke addison reed and busenitz and c garver for gimenez darvish and duensing’
joseph ray meyer
or sano and kohl stewart and c garver and minors may busenitz romero to cubs for c. gimenez yu darvish brian duensing to the whitesox from twins dozier if nick gordon minor pitcher nick anderson and curtiss and littell for gilioto anderson abreau and from rangers bartolo colon cole hamels beltre choo for buxton kepler motter and two prospects and from astros to twins humber neshek liriano verlander for rosario jorge santana 4 prospects and cash
outinleftfield
The Yankees, Angels, and Padres have been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Hamels today as well as a reunion with the Phillies.
its_happening
If you are Seattle, is it worth obtaining Hamels knowing you have a 1-gamer against either Boston or New York? Of course you want to make it to the dance, but is the cost too steep for a road match-up?
24TheKid
Exactly. I see them acquiring someone with more control who maybe isn’t as good as Hammels or Happ similar to the Marco Gonzalez and Mike Leake trades of last season. I don’t think Hammels would help them as much as a relief pitcher would anyways.
JimboBob
I’m sure the Phils will try to acquire Beltre but Hamels doesn’t make much sense right now.
It would take a serious injury or two to their current starting rotation to change that.
Philliesfan4life
Hamels would be perfect for them right now, they have a shot to win the nl east with the nationals struggling again and I don’t think the braves are gonna win the east. Hamels • Arrieta • Nola thats a good 1-2-3 punch for the playoffs
joseph ray meyer
does any body think that the twins will trade dozier kepler ervin santana sano and or buxton mejia or any other major/minor leaguers from there farm or their 40-man roster
24TheKid
No way they trade Buxton, Kepler or Sano. And I don’t think they’ll get enough value back from Santana or Dozier to justify trading them. I think they should give Dozier a QO, hope he accepts it and try again fresh in 2019. They have a lot of talent, but it’s all really under producing.