Cole Hamels Rumors

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Figgins, Halladay, Uggla

On this date 31 years ago, Red Sox free agent pitcher Luis Tiant signed a two-year, $875K contract with the Yankees. After eight seasons and 122 wins with Boston, Tiant would go 21-17 with the Yankees before finishing his career with the Pirates and Angels. With this year's free agents looking for new homes, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere... UmpBump attempts to determine how much Chone Figgins is worth. The Phrontiersman warns that giving up Cole Hamels is too much for Roy Halladay. We Should Be GMs analyzes the Phillies roster and suggests...   Continue Reading

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Verducci On Bonuses, Hamels, Lincecum

Tom Verducci of SI.com says teams are willing to spend on amateur talent now because they expect MLB to push for a hard-slotting system after 2011 that would limit the bonuses top draft picks receive. Large-revenue teams like the Red Sox will lose the advantage they have now, since they'll no longer be able to snap up players who fall because of signability concerns. Cole Hamels set a record for a pitcher in his first year of arbitration when he signed a three-year $20.5MM deal last year. Tim Lincecum appears ready to break that record after this season and not...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Suzuki, Zambrano, Nationals

Links for Tuesday... Remember Mac Suzuki? According to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel, the Royals' first Japanese pitcher worked out for Kansas City and Cleveland and will audition for the Dodgers as well. He's spent the last three years in the Mexican League. Carlos Zambrano's second-favorite team is the White Sox, according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times. Big Z's contract with the Cubs runs through 2012 or 2013. Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo told Chico Harlan of the Washington Post he's received a lot of phone calls about his outfield/first base logjam. RotoAuthority runs through all 30 closer situations....   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Hamels, Giants, Yankees

Links for Monday... Cole Hamels is flying to Philadelphia to have his sore left elbow examined. Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in total last year, the most in baseball (two more than C.C. Sabathia). Hamels thinks he's fine and it's not a big deal. Julian Tavarez on why he chose the Nationals. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Marlins returned Rule 5 lefty Zach Kroenke to the Yankees. Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at postseason ticket revenue over the last decade. Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News talked to John Dewan about the Giants' defense. Joel Sherman...   Continue Reading

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Verducci On Hamels, Shields, Lowe, Manny

Let's take a look at the latest from SI.com's Tom Verducci. Interesting line: "One journeyman reliever, for instance, turned down a $2 million offer, saying he would retire before taking that kind of money." Many veterans will choose between swallowing their pride and retiring this spring. Verducci makes a comparison between Cole Hamels and James Shields, who were called up 19 days apart. The extra service time for Hamels gave him Super Two status, meaning he became arbitration-eligible four times instead of three. That decision probably cost the Phillies more than $10MM. The Mets were willing to give Derek Lowe...   Continue Reading

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Phillies Arb: Howard, Victorino, Werth

In addition to backing up the facts behind today's Cole Hamels story, Todd Zolecki has an update on the Phillies' remaining arbitration-eligible players. After Greg Dobbs' 2-year, $2.5MM deal, six players are left on the arb list: Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson, Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton, Jayson Werth and Chad Durbin. According to Zolecki, "The Phillies have been talking with Madson about a contract extension, but he reportedly turned down a three-year, $12 million offer." Zolecki also doesn't expect Howard's deal to be done anytime soon.   Continue Reading

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Phillies Agree To Three Year Deal With Hamels

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post the Phillies agreed to sign Cole Hamels to a three year contract worth $20.5MM. Jon Heyman has the details. Hamels makes $4.35MM this year, $6.65MM in 2010 and $9.5MM in 2011. If Hamels wins the Cy Young his contract goes up by $500K the following season and he'll get a $250K raise the year after a second or third place finish. Presumably he'd get an immediate bonus if he finishes in the top three in voting in the deal's final year. According to Sherman, Hamels is in line for additional bonuses...   Continue Reading

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Stark On The Arbitration Class

ESPN's Jayson Stark says we're headed for a historic arbitration class. Players file today, and the dollar submissions become known on Tuesday. If the sides can't come to an agreement, they go to a hearing and an arbitrator chooses one of the two salary submissions. Be sure to read the article, but here are a few highlights. Ryan Howard's dad may be behind the player's unprecedented salary expectations. Howard may ask for $15-17MM in his second arbitration year. He could be a trade candidate in the 2009-10 offseason. Prince Fielder's numbers and accolades don't match up to Howard's, so Scott...   Continue Reading

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Eight Phillies Eligible For Arbitration

David Murphy notes the Phillies' large group of arbitration-eligible players: Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Ryan Madson, Joe Blanton, Chad Durbin, and Greg Dobbs. Scott Lauber suggests their combined salaries could double in 2009 - from $19MM to $38MM. Murphy says there's not much of a precedent for Hamels, who will easily top Chien Ming Wang's $4MM from last year. Ryan Howard also stands to tack millions on to last year's $10MM award. Negotiations for a long-term deal are not active for either player, but the Phils will probably at least discuss it with Hamels' agent. Between...   Continue Reading

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Phillies' Offseason Agenda

12:47pm: Scott Lauber has the latest from the Amaro press conference. Manny Ramirez seems unlikely as a left field solution. Execs surveyed by Jerry Crasnick felt the same. Burrell switched to a Philly-based agent, and talks will begin soon with the Phillies. Pat Gillick will remain with the Phillies as a paid consultant. 11:13am: The Phillies locked up Ruben Amaro Jr. as their GM through 2011. Items on his to-do list: Left fielder Pat Burrell could be back if he accepts a two-year deal. Otherwise, the Phils will kick the tires on Manny Ramirez, Matt Holliday, and Magglio Ordonez. Jim...   Continue Reading

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