Cole Hamels Would Love to Be Traded, Says New Report and Common Sense

Longtime baseball scribe Bob Nightengale of USA Today has a new report saying Cole Hamels would like to be traded. “Yet, if his world could possibly be a little more perfect, he’d love to be traded this winter,” Nightengale writes of Hamels. Right. Of course!

Hamels signed a $144 million deal with the Phillies in July of 2012. The day Hamels signed his contract, the Phillies were 45-54 — but they had won five straight NL East titles, two pennants, a World Series (and would finish the season at a 36-27 clip).

The contract was the largest in Philadelphia sports history. The Phillies have been awful since.

They lost 89 games in consecutive seasons even as Hamels has pitched brilliantly. He had a 2.46 ERA and was second in the NL among pitchers in the WAR stat but went just 9-9. It wasn’t his fault the Phillies almost lost 90 games.

Wouldn’t you want to be traded? It would’ve been nice to see Hamels get to get to pitch in the postseason in his career year. I bet he feels even more strongly about it.

“He was neutral when I talked to him,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters at the winter meetings. “Happy to go. I think he wants to win, but he signed his contract and he plans on honoring the contract obviously, and that’s great.”

Reports say it will take a huge haul to land Hamels, perhaps three prospects. So look for Hamels to pitch a few more amazing seasons for this retooling team.

[USA Today via CBS Philly]