After weeks and months of rumors, the Phillies finally pulled the trigger earlier this week and traded away ace lefty Cole Hamels.
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On Saturday, July 25, Cole Hamels, the ace of the Philadelphia Phillies, pitched his first no-hitter of the season, thereby increasing his trade value.
Any trade of Hamels, however, is bittersweet to the Phillies and their fans.
He has all those things now, and he left them behind Friday as the Phillies summoned him to Philadelphia. “It’s just one of those things, you just got to go with the flow type of thing”. “The fact that he effectively selected us as one of the places he wanted to go adds to it. Regardless, having a player choose this is the place I want to play that’s meaningful and hopefully have a long time in the community and a part of the whole deal”.
Five prospects also came over in the deal for Hamels and reliever Jake Diekman.
Hamels went 114-90 with a 3.30 ERA over his 10 Phillies seasons. He was assigned to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
In MLB.com’s updated prospect rankings, Thompson, Williams and Alfaro are now ranked as the Nos.
Major League Baseball has reached its 4 p.m. EDT deadline for trades in which players don’t have to pass through waivers first. Shortstop J.P. Crawford is the top-rated player.
Amaro deserves credit for these deals, especially Ben Revere, whom he and the Phillies brain trust somehow managed to deal for two prospects.
When news started to leak that a Hamels-to-Texas trade was imminent, Amaro called Hamels while the Phillies were in Toronto to let him know what was going on.
The good news for Flores is that Mets fans wrapped their arms around him. “That didn’t really have a big effect on how we valued him. Hopefully he stays healthy and continues to pitch well”, Andrus said.
But this is also the same general manager whose misguided decision-making left the World Series champions full of bloated contracts, a barren farm system and little prospect of a fast turnaround, no matter how many games they’ve won since the All-Star break. “That’s the risk because they’re prospects. We’ve spent a lot of time together, so it’s going to be tough”.
Amaro doesn’t appear to be anxious about minor leaguer Jorge Alfaro’s ankle injury. “He’s a guy that can be a completely for sure ace”, Andrus said. “That’s the best deal we felt we could make”.
“He’s definitely a great pitcher”, Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland said after Texas beat the New York Yankees 5-2 Wednesday. But as the Los Angeles Dodgers have shown and as the Phillies are starting to do, being a big-market team has its advantages. The city embraces the Phillies.
“Knowing that there is support for what we get to do and enjoy, and what we get to provide, and bringing a world championship here was that much more special because of what I think we all got to see in that parade”.
Hypothetically, if the Rangers resigned Gallardo, their 2016 rotation could be… However, he isn’t disappointed by the return and expects the acquired players to make an impact in the majors at some point.
Williams and Thompson, who are both 21 years old, will join Double-A Reading to begin their careers in the Phillies’ organization. We’ve been on the DL at the same time. “I do not believe so”, Amaro said. “The beauty of that organization is that they have a lot of depth”.
“It’s one of those things where we got to realize it’s a business in the end“, Moreland said. He projects as a No. 3 or 4 starter.
Harrison could blossom again in Philadelphia, where there will be no pressure to perform for a playoff contender and he continue to work on regaining his form of a few years ago. Listening to Amaro and Hamels himself speak, that seems to be precisely what happened.
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“Finding offense is not easy and he has a nice combination of speed and power”, Amaro said. “It worked out well with Philadelphia because they motivated less by dollars and more than talent we had, that due to the work of all our coaches in the system, the scouts, we have good depth from which to deal”.
