The trade deadline has come and gone – thank goodness – leaving in its wake Friday 37 deals, 20 former All-Stars among those switching teams and only two clubs that didn’t alter their 25-man roster.
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The mood among the Rangers yo-yoed between excitement and somberness on Thursday afternoon as they zigzagged between answering questions about acquiring Cole Hamels and losing Matt Harrison.
Carlton was great and Hamels was merely good, and the numbers prove it. Pitching for one of the worst Phillies teams of all time in the 1972 squad, the then 28-year-old Carlton won 27 games, lost 10 and posted a 1.97 ERA with 310 strikeouts in 346.1 innings and 30 complete games. “Going to miss him in the clubhouse, going to miss him out on the field”. But the Mets didn’t like Gomez’s medical file, and, voila, Flores wasn’t going anywhere.
Cole Hamels didn’t have to speak to the media today on his way out of Philadelphia, but despite running late because of traffic, Hamels took his time on his way out of Philadelphia to thank the media (and the fans) through an exit presser. “I think it’s important that we get a few good young arms and get us back on track”.
Tulowitzki was shocked to be traded.
The 29-year-old Harrison, a 2012 All-Star when he won 18 games, has made only three starts this season after having spinal fusion surgery last summer.
The lesson here, which these players didn’t need to be reminded of or taught, is that baseball is a business. Hamels has a limited no-trade clause but does not have to approve a deal to the Rangers.
He has all those things now, and he left them behind Friday as the Phillies summoned him to Philadelphia.
Now, he has two months to power the New York Mets into the playoffs.
“I’m excited to start the next chapter of my baseball life”, Hamels said. A lot of good friendships there that I’m going to miss. “It’s insane”. But he knows there’s still a long way to go and there are no givens in this process. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
The top of the class, in the Phillies’ eyes, is Jorge Alfaro. “They have a lot of great players and there’s always a chance in that league”.
In Harrison, the Rangers developed a fondness for what he’s done for the franchise and how he has persevered through his medical woes.
The Blue Jays are six games back of the Yankees in the AL East, tied with Baltimore but with one more win and loss at 52-51. The Rangers will receive $9.5 million – $7 million in 2016 and $2.5 million in 2018 – to offset part of the contract for Hamels, who is due $22.5 million per season through 2018 with a club option for 2019.
“I never envisioned that kind of transpiring the way that it did”, Hamels said. “We were looking for depth and quality, and we got both”.
Williams and Thompson, who are both 21 years old, will join Double-A Reading to begin their careers in the Phillies’ organization.
First, though, he needs back stiffness to clear up.
Pat Burrell, still only 38, was the latest inductee to the Phillies Wall of Fame, and don’t they decide to do the thing on the night of the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline? After four starts in 2014, he was diagnosed with significant nerve irritation and a forward displacement of his vertebrae, known risks after the earlier procedures.
“I have no idea, but just sitting out there, thinking about it, (stunk)”, Diekman said.
“It’s frustrating to come over here and go right on the DL”, Harrison said. “I don’t know if that’s a combination of things”.
“I’ve been rehabbing a long time and may have gotten in a rehab mode”. Hamels joked he will have a very expensive phone bill after that conversation since “I don’t think I got the worldwide plan”. “I don’t know”.
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The deal was reached hours before Friday’s non-waiver trade deadline.
