Cole Hamels is really good. The Phillies are really bad. Cole Hamels is going to make a lot of money after this season. The Phillies, according to Jayson Stark, want to give Cole Hamels a lot of money.
Phillies Preparing Contract Offer For Hamels
Which doesn’t mean they won’t trade him. Or that they will. It’s all so confusing.
The Philadelphia Phillies are preparing a substantial offer to their soon-to-be-free-agent left-hander Cole Hamels in an attempt to determine whether they can sign him to an extension in the next two weeks, sources told ESPN.com on Thursday.
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There has been no indication the two sides have made any progress toward a new deal for months. However, executives of two clubs that spoke to Phillies' officials say Philadlephia has been expressing a surprising level of optimism it can get the 28-year-old left-hander signed this month.
"They're trying to sign him," said one of those executives. "And they think it's going to happen. At least that's what I was told."
The Phillies seem to have luxury-tax issues, but if they don’t get Hamels re-upped they’ll have pitching issues.
Of course, (as Stark notes) Hamels has “been a walking trade rumor for weeks”, which is natural considering he’s eligible for free agency in a few months and the Phillies are a million games out of first place.
This situation still seems highly fluid. Or, put another way, nobody really knows nothing.
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