Talks between Cole Hamels and the Phillies will accelerate this week, as the sides consider the possibility of a mid-season extension, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Hamels must decide whether to accept an offer from the Phillies with the trade deadline looming and free agency just a couple of months away. The left-hander is “conflicted” about how to proceed, Rosenthal writes. The Phillies will almost certainly trade Hamels if they don’t sign him to a long-term deal, Rosenthal reports. Here are more notes from around MLB…
- The Giants’ biggest offensive need might be a right-handed hitting outfielder.
- A rival executive notes that the Nationals have relied heavily on their bullpen and suggests it’d make sense for Washington to add a starting pitcher this summer.
- The Twins would want a major return if they trade Josh Willingham, who has a reasonable three-year, $21MM contract.
- Some teams like Asher Wojciechowski, a right-handed pitching prospect acquired by the Astros from Toronto in last week’s ten-player deal. Overall the trade wasn’t considered a blockbuster, however.
- Brewers relievers Manny Parra and Kameron Loe are drawing interest.
- The Phillies might need to include cash if they trade Shane Victorino. Including salary relief could help the team obtain better prospects for the prospective free agent.
Nothing groundbreaking here from Rosenthal.
POLL QUESTION… which reporters do you feel consistently deliver the most legit, meaningful insight??
Stark is always on the money
Not Buster, that’s for sure
Stark seems mostly reliable
Kurkjian, by a mile.
Soriano for Zito /dream
At this point Zito is more valuable to the Giants than Soriano is.
I would think Josh Willingham would make sense for the Giants.
Hearing teams are interested in Manny Parra and Kameron Loe is great news for this Brewer fan.
If there are teams willing to offer ANYTHING of value for guys in our bullpen, we should trade them yesterday.
Fans have been denied seeing Wojciechowski spelled in a full double layered circle on the back of the Blue Jay jersey.
Parra has turned it up a notch lately, and Loe has always been good for us if he’s not too overworked or too underworked. It might be a good time to sell each of them because they are doing well and we’ll get the best return now. However, I agree that they are worth keeping if they don’t net something worthwhile in return.