We’re nearing the end of June, which means trade rumor season is going to kick into high gear soon. There will be Manny Machado rumor after Manny Machado rumor to contend with, but there are other big-name players who will be available in July, too. Add Cole Hamels to that list, as MLB’s Jon Morosi is reporting the Rangers’ hurler could be dealt before the MLB All-Star Game.
Cole Hamels could be traded very soon
Friday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at a big name recently put on the trade block.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
It’s not a surprise the Rangers would move to trade Hamels. He has a $20 million team option for 2019 with a $6 million buyout, so he’s either going to be a free agent or is in for one more expensive year, but price means very little when it comes to that short of a contract length. The Rangers are playing a waiting game with prospects and the youth on their big-league roster, and it has them in last place in the American League West. Dealing Hamels, like dealing teammate Adrian Beltre, another impending free agent, is a pretty obvious move.
Where could Hamels go is more the question. He’s having himself a solid 2018, with a 125 ERA+ while on pace for around 200 innings, but he’s also been homer-prone in a way he didn’t used to be during his peak in Philadelphia. He was allowing 1.1 homers per nine over his first two-plus years in Texas, and this season, is up to 1.8 per nine. That could be a blip, as we’re talking about 97 innings of work and 14 of the 20 homers he’s allowed have come at hitter-friendly Globe Life in Arlington, despite an equal number of starts at home and on the road. It could also be because Hamels is 34 with 13 years of big-league ball and 2,500 innings of work on his arm, but given those home/road splits, it seems more like the former.
That’s probably why Morosi also reported that the Mariners are a team looking at Hamels. Safeco isn’t pro-hitter like Arlington, and the M’s could use help keeping pace with the Astros and whichever of the Yankees or Red Sox don’t end up winning the AL East. The Rangers would also be open to trading Hamels within the division, given they aren’t in a place where they’re going to be competing, anyway, and Hamels will be either gone next season or guaranteed to be around in the West for just one more.
The Mariners might not have a farm system to brag about or acknowledge in public for fear of being embarrassed by it, but given the emphasis on team control in trades these days, Seattle might not need to pay a hefty price for Hamels, anyway. It all depends on what other teams offer up, and how many of them are trying to pry Hamels loose from Texas’ grip, of course. But the Mariners might have a real chance of upgrading their rotation before the second half kicks off.
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- Whitney McIntosh’s Mound Visits is live, and you should read it, because how else would you know what went down in baseball this week?
- Oregon State won the College World Series thanks to a freshman pitcher throwing a shutout.
- Ivan Rodriguez, Hall of Fame catcher, has now opened a pizza place. And yes, it’s called Pudge’s Pizza.
- If the Red Sox and Yankees play three short games this weekend, Boston manager Alex Cora is going to buy all the beat writers dinner.
- There is no way Alex Cora loses that bet.
- MLB is loosening up its weird obsession with denying the players any personality or individuality through footwear.
- R.J. Anderson on Grant Desme returning to pro ball is as must-read as every other big feature he puts on. Which is to say you should open it, come on, I was not being vague at all.
- The Braves have a deep minor-league system, which is good. They’re also facing a logjam of prospects, which is less good.
- The Orioles are terrible, and seem resistant to change. Well, good luck?
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