Shoulder issues have limited Cole Hamels to just one start over the past two seasons. The 37-year-old has no plans to retire, though, and Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports (on Twitter) that the veteran free agent recently underwent surgery to address his latest injury. According to Morosi, Hamels expects to be ready to return to game action by late summer 2022.
It’ll probably be another quiet offseason for Hamels, who lingered on the free agent market until early August this year after an injury-wrecked 2020 campaign with the Braves. The Dodgers eventually took a low-risk flier on the four-time All-Star. That didn’t pay off, as he suffered his latest injury while ramping up his throwing program and didn’t appear in a game with Los Angeles. Now facing another extended absence, it’s possible Hamels and his representatives at John Boggs & Associates don’t pursue another job until he’s further along in his rehab process next year.
Whenever Hamels is healthy enough to conduct a showcase, he should still attract interest from plenty of contending teams looking to bolster their pitching depth. After all, the southpaw was an effective hurler during his last healthy campaign. Over 141 2/3 innings with the 2019 Cubs, Hamels worked to a 3.81 ERA. He’d offered middle or top of the rotation production for essentially his entire career until these persistent woes cropped up, so it’s likely there’ll be plenty of teams willing to do their due diligence in evaluating his form after this latest rehab effort.
When/if he returns he’ll have made one start over the course of 3 years. It’ll be very interesting to see if he still has it. That’s a really long absence.
And he lasted three and a third innings in that one start.
Do we know what surgery he underwent? It’s been a shoulder injury that was plaguing him. He would take almost the whole season off and then pitch once and his shoulder would be so weak after that one outing it knocked him out for another solid year. If he underwent rotator cuff surgery that’s really bad news. That surgery is nowhere near as advanced as Tommy John surgery and frequently ends pitchers careers. I don’t remember seeing a pitcher have that surgery and come back effectively. John Smoltz had it before his final season and was just a shell of the pitcher he was the season before. His ERA ballooned up to over 5.00 and he immediately retired after that season was over. James should have really just hanged it up after 2019. He’s made $19M over the last 2 seasons to record a combined 10 outs. That’s less than 2 innings pitched per year. I can’t tell if he’s really trying to come back and be an asset because that seems very doubtful. It looks to me that he’s just trying to go out on his own terms and not have his career end on an injury. I wouldn’t ever give him more than a prorated non-guaranteed minor league deal. Even offer the typical $1M roster bonus seems like too much of a waste at this point.
You always write voluminous posts. Just an observation.
Too long tho
I’m not actually sure if TMMW really knows or cares what anyone thinks, but I think he is literally trying to milk the cow for all it’s worth when it comes to his word count per comment. Literally yesterday he posted something that was so meandering and nonsensical I was wondering if he really knew what he was trying to say. I think sometimes he goes on a tangent and then his tangent grows legs, but not like human legs, because humans have only two legs. This tangent was like an octopus, and by the time I finished reading, I was literally exhausted. Maybe he has problems being succinct or something. I know sometimes that brevity has its place, as opposed to babbling on and on and on and on and on and on like an endlessly flowing underground spring or something. Some of the best water you can drink comes from underground springs, because it’s been filtered by God and it has so many crucial and essential minerals and stuff in the water or something. I actually almost forgot what I was going to say, but I think Cole Hamels can still be an effective pitcher if he is healthy and if he still has good velocity and if he still has superb command. I have to think he will have to have a showcase or maybe more than one showcase for any prospective teams that might be interested in signing him or something, but I doubt he will get a multi-year deal from anyone. But maybe someone will go out on a limb and take the risk. I guess we will find out, but I wouldn’t want to be the one to offer him anything more than a 1 year contract. I don’t think he would take a minor league deal because he has such a long track record of sustained success, but nobody has figured out how to beat Father Time yet, and I don’t think Cole Hamels has figured it out either.
Then his tangent grows legs, but not like human legs…
That got me good, well done hahaha
The Mets “Missed WAR” & Steve Nebraska Missed Fever Pitch Guy’s WAR Chant are probably the same person.
I assure you we are not. That guy showed up right around the same time all that “Thoughts and Prayers for a speedy recovery” was going on after a billion people said it a trillion times each. I think he probably is someone’s multiple account but he definitely isn’t mine. I never see him post anything that isn’t negative about me. Tbh, it actually feels pretty good to live in someone’s head rent free like that. I never thought someone would consider me so important to make every single one of their posts about me. I usually just ignore him though.
I think waiting until August is a smart decision because with the only trade deadline being July 31. Having a possible SP option available mid-august could be worth more at that point.
He’s waited until August to pitch both of the last 2 seasons as well. It hasn’t helped. I don’t know the details of his surgery but I think he’s probably toast. If he was going to get this surgery he should have done it right after he got injured with the Braves. Waiting through 2 years of being completely useless before caving and going under the knife shows that whatever surgery he underwent probably comes with plenty of negatives in and of itself. Hamels is probably toast. I hope he comes back because I would love to see him pitch again but at this point no one should hold their breath.
He should sign w the mets. His best chance at a ring in 2022
You just want him on the team for the injury excuse when the Mess fail. I can already see it: “We’d have won the division by 40 games if Hamels was healthy all year!”
Pretty funny actually lol
@app. I believe that’s one of MF’s fan club parody users.
Mets dominate the only thing that matters. Preseason Pecota and fangraphs projections
Really?
Hahahahahahahahaha Mets suck
Hang up the spikes already Geeze
If the guy wants to play I don’t see the problem. He was still pretty damn solid the last time he was healthy.
Which was 3 years ago….a lifetime for a 37 year old pitcher.
Prayers = answered
I think he has stolen enough money the last 2 years
These comments are trash.
Organizations scouted, reviewed medicals and gave him a contract. There was no theft involved, not sure why people are so quick to jump to this hot take.
bingo
Well, it was a brilliant business decision to sign for 1 million and then never pitch. Maybe he can pull it off again
Bro your 37 give it a rest. You have nothing left to prove
Teams are usually better off going with a AA/AAA non-prospect than the aging veteran route assuming the command and control is ok
This guy is toast I would not sign him to throw batting practice.He is toast and he should stop trying to rip teams off. He can’t pitch in a mens over 30 league
The teams rip off themselves. He show cased and teams signed him. I don’t get why people care if he wants to keep trying to pitch.
Mid/late summer return? That window seems like a perfect fit for him to sneak through and steal another franchise’s millions for signing up to pitch and not pitching. Padres this time?
This guy would be perfect for an expansion franchise that would suck for the first five years anyway. Here are the options…
Albuquerque Desert Dogs
Oklahoma City Red Wolves
Wichita Warlocks
New Orleans Gators
i dunno Cole, i think its over man
I’m leaning towards your perspective… but let’s allow him to showcase at least. “Eyeing a late summer return” could work for an injured team… let’s see what the noodle has left!
I don’t blame him for trying to get a last few million dollars, but at some point you just have to let it go.
November, 2051: “Though he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2020, 67 year old Cole Hamels feels he has ‘a very good chance’ to hook up with a team after he recovers from his latest surgery…”
Go home Cole. You’re done. I know $19m for 3 innings is a good grift but the jig is up.
You have to give it to him. He is persistent.
Sure, he suckered the Dodgers for $millions (even though that may not have been his intent, but he didn’t give the money back either) and now hoping to revive the con one more time.
Correction to my comment…..he suckered the Dodgers for $1 Million with the potential for $200,000 incentive for each start….not a bad payday for basically no return.
Give it back?
Should teams give players a raise when they exceed performance on cheap deals? How about players playing for rookie contracts and providing millions in performance and jersey sales, should they get a raise?
Or are contracts binding and it’s a ridiculous opinion to think outside of breaking terms of the contract that anything should change to the agreement.
Just retire already. Your arm is done. And so are you.
“Hole Camels” would be a decent stripper name.
I have it trademarked and please come visit Cheetahs when you’re in San Diego. Thanks!
He would just sign a minor league deal now. Teams can actually monitor his progress and come up with an actual plan. It makes more sense than a showcase at this point if he is really serious about a return.
He won’t take a minor league deal.
Some guys just don’t know when it’s over.
Hamels has no plans to retire but it sure seems like his shoulder does.
Once a thief always a thief
What a stupid comment. Once an idiot, always an idiot.
man. you guys are tough. he obviously is not coming back for the money. do you really think he needs $1m? who are we to say he cant try to make an attempt to pitch again? he is a professional athlete who wants to squeeze every bit of time on the mound that he has left. i respect that. for the love of the Game folks
Just jealousy from miserable people
Looking for another desperateteam to give him 1 mil.
Cole looking to see if there is another team willing to give him $1 million dollars for his autograph…
Now, of course, he’ll finally join the Padres
Can we trade him to Rancho Bernardo High? Straight swap for one of their starters…
What team is he robbing next
I read somewhere that there is little chance of us ever seeing a 300 game winner again. If that’s the case is 200 the new 300? And if that’s the case do guys like Hamels get a few HOF votes for getting close to 200 wins?
Coincidence this article is right on top of the cardinals expressing the need for pitching depth? I think not. This is the kind of dumpster dive Mo wets himself over.
Cool hand Cole. Stealing a million dollars a year, slow and steady, one team at a time.
See Kasmir, Scott
Most if not all teams are thinking, “Well, let’s see where you are in July, and even then we can’t imagine a scenario where we could really count on you for anything. But anyhow, good luck with that.”
Keep getting those million dollar incentive-laden checks. Teasing teams into the possibility of good health but ultimately having setbacks that delay a debut.
Maybe he can get Brodie Van Wagenen to represent him and Brodie will sign him to the next team he is named GM of.
I had rotator cuff/labrum/bursa surgery eight weeks ago, the rehab is rough, I could not imagine trying to throw a baseball