With an ever-increasing payroll, it would seem difficult for the Phillies to find room to sign Cole Hamels to a lucrative new deal. However, team president David Montgomery told Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer that he is confident that a deal can be reached.
"I don't think it's difficult," said Montgomery. "We've let [Hamels] know we're anxious to have him stay here. Cole enjoys it here…It'll probably come down to what we think is an appropriate length and what they think. You try to minimize risk by not going longer than necessary. And a player is looking for as much security as he can get. It's an equation that takes time to hopefully get worked out."
Recently, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote that the Phillies will have trouble re-signing the left-hander for anything less than market value after giving hefty deals to Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jimmy Rollins. Hamels' agent John Boggs also says that he doesn't consider Jered Weaver's team-friendly five-year, $85MM deal as a parallel.
He’ll be a Yankee
No he won’t.
Sorry i think he may be a Dodger.
I say he stays in Philly. If he does leave, he prob will go to Boston.
even though i would love see him stay i just can’t see the phillies affording it with him saying he won’t give a hometown discount, unfortunately i see him eventually ending up with the yankees..
When you give your overrated 1B a nine-figure extension, two years before you have to, when you sign a relief pitcher to a contract that is twice as big as the next guy to sign, when you sign players in their late 30’s who are clearly on the decline, and especially, when you tender contracts to “long relief/spot starter” types that is 10x’s the MLB minimum (which is what a guy in that role SHOULD be making), it all adds up eventually.
Now the one guy who SHOULD be getting locked up long term, the LH starter, who is still in his 20’s, and is on the short list of top starters in this league…is going to walk. This is a great example of how NOT to run your team.
Edit: And I am a Phillies fan, just a realistic one.
Howard deal looks better all the time. Pujols, Fielder, Werth, Crawford, etc. are worse. Phils will get a new TV contract soon enough. Much better situation than years past.
just because those guys signed bad deals doesn’t mean Howard’s contract starts to look better. It still sucks
Check out Howard’s stats. Big man will be back. Book it.
His triple slash and OPS & OPS+ have declined over the last 3 years and he’s coming off a major injury. He’ not the same player he was 3 years ago. Heck, Mike Morse had a better year than Howard except for RBI’s which is dependent on your teammates getting on base and Howard had a much better team around him.
That’s like saying the guy who has cancer should feel great that he’s not HIV positive.
A little overreaction don’t ya think.
Saying “Oh well, there are worse contracts” is a shallow defense at best.
Baloney. Overreaction to Howard’s contract is the point.
you’re completely right, and i’m (obviously) not a phillies fan, its a shame
should have traded Howard to the cardinals when we had the chance. Then have them take on his whole contract then turned around and signed Pujols. that would have been a smart F.O. move.
Ryan Howard has value, do not think I am saying otherwise. I just think that the appropriate compensation for a player of his skill level and age should be somewhere south of the $20M AAV mark.
Of course they are confident, they have more money than anyone. Hamels really is a priority though but it should be difficult to give him what he deserves with guys like Halladay, Lee, Papelbon, Howard, and Utley already getting big money, but I’m sure they’ll make it work.
Even if we resign him, it’s likely that we won’t be able to resign Victorino after he becomes a free agent next season. This is tough…
As a Phillies fan wouldnt you rather keep Hamels than Victorino?
Yes, but Shane is just as valuable. I wouldn’t want to lose our youngest ace, but I also don’t want to lose our table-setter.
This season will answer a lot of the questions about whether or not to re-sign Shane. If Mayberry shows that he can be a solid every day player and if Brown progresses, we wont need shane. However if Mayberry and Brown struggle, we may have to re-sign shane, so time will tell for this question so I think that may be part of the reason they are holding off.
I like you purely because of your username and avatar.
your insane? and over rated CF over a top 5 LH in the game?? I think they have not gone over the Luxury tax in the past for this very moment. They will give him a deal at 5 years and 20-23 mil a year.
I am a Phillies fan. If the choice came down to either Hamels or Victorino, I would provide Shane with door-to-door service to the airport on my own dime and time. Anyone who thinks Victorino is more valuable than Hamels is just irrational.
Shane has developed into a good 5-tool player, however he just turned 31, and if his speed starts to fade, half of his game goes with it.
Much more upside with Hamels, MUCH more.
for phillies, i want to say that they will need a hitter more than a pitcher in long run. then again that hitter is also on wrong side of 30.
You are being too hypothetical. If we are talking about Cole Hamels vs. Justin Upton, my answer might be different, but since we are comparing Hamels and Victorino, I take from your comment that we both know what the right answer is.
Pence is also a free agent after this year and he will be a costly one.
No, he’s not. He has another year of arbitration. Not a free agent in till after the 2013 season.
shrewd negotiators, those phillies.
“anxious to have him stay here” doesn’t exactly imply that you feel you have any leverage whatsoever.
They’re not trying to buy a Toyota. Hamels knows that the Phillies want him back, because frankly, who wouldn’t?
The Phillies have no leverage in this situation whatsoever. They have to make the choice between their left-handed ace and their star centerfielder, both of whom have enough talent to squeeze as much money out of prospective buyers as they please.
Personally, I see them reupping Victorino, and Hamels signs a huge Kevin Brown contract with the Dodgers when they get their new owners.
Dodgers should worry about locking up their own left handed ace before going after Hamels. Im fine with Hamels staying in the NL East because for some reason the Mets smack him around all the time.
how is this comment in any way logical..
it struck me as an admission that through a variety of overpays (ibanez and howard come to mind immediately, although i know there are others) they’re admitting that they’re unlikely to lock hamels up at anything close to market value, and definitely not going to lock him up at anything below market value. just seems strange that you’d come out and SAY such a thing.
admitting that you’d like to keep a very good pitcher doesn’t take away leverage. It realistically doesn’t need to be said, its common sense.
They are in extension talks.. why would they be offering an extension to someone they didn’t want to keep? So obviously Hamels and his agent already know that he’s wanted there.
it’s still different language from the standard-issue line you hear from teams. “we’d love to have him stay here” is different from “we’re anxious to have him stay here” in my view.
but then, i negotiate for a living.
you’re simply reading too much in to it .
they are trying to make him feel wanted and apart of the organization in hopes that he wont be to greedy in his demands..
The language the phillies use to describe how they feel has absolutely no bearing on the market for Hamels. I sincerely doubt his agent read that and said, OH ANXIOUS are we? lets tack on another 20 million.
I could see the phillies pulling what the red sox did in 04 when they traded Nomar. I love hamels but if he is looking for a ridiculous contract then I think it might be wise to get what we can from him and then considering moving at the trade deadline.
The phils could get a great package for 28 year old ace if they trade him to say the yanks, red sox, rangers or dodgers. Phillies could ask for a big package of elite prospects and then swap some of those guys to get a starting third basemen like say David Wright.
Either way Hamels right now is a luxury. The phillies have two aces that have show no signs of decline locked up for years to come with Halladay and Lee. With guys like worley and an array of young pitching talent like Trevor May and Jesse Biddle sitting in the minors give the phillies cheaper options.
Come postseason time you really only need 2 stud starters anyway. I mean look at the two teams that were in the world series this year. Aside from Carpenter and Lewis no one was really a dominating ace.
Not a luxury when he is 28 and the others are approaching mid 30’s. Maybe right now, but in two years he is a necessity.
They’re not going to get anything back for Hamels… history shows that rental pitchers ALMOST NEVER fetch a fair package (Cliff Lee in 2009, CC Sabathia in 2008 etc).
The Phillies budget is a 166 million or their about, they want to stay under 189 million in 2014. I can see them resigning Hamels for 5/100. Teams have been trying to keep their good younger pitchers, most don’t make it to free agency. That being said, the Phils are under the gun to win the series this year, they have had the best team on paper the last 2 years. I still can’t believe that Halliday and Lee have never won a series.
Its going to take more than 5/100MM if Hamels has a typical season at 28 years old.
Trade KENDRICK and sign Oswalt. The money would be about the same, the step up in talent would be enormous. Send Blanton to the bullpen, no one is going to take him on at even half price.
Trading a player who is only in his second year of arbitration eligibility should not be too difficult, yet because of the Phillies overpayment of Kendrick I have a feeling that will not be as easy as it should be.
Oswalt wants significantly more than Kendrick (as in $10MM rather than $3.5MM), so that sort of move wouldn’t happen.
Additionally, half the point of keeping Kendrick this year is because he can fill in when a starter goes down with an injury. Oswalt would be that starter with an injury.
Where are you getting $10M from? That may have been the asking price in back in December, but there are multiple stories on this very website indicating that $5-$7M is more likely.
And Kendrick can do that job, paying anyone $3.6M for that job is borderline insane however.
… Oswalt isn’t signing for $3.5 million.
If he goes anywhere near “team friendly” it’ll be no less than 5 years/$100MM but I think realistically he’ll want “market value” of $23-24MM per season so it could end up being like Cliff Lee’s 5 year/$120MM deal w/ a $5MM buy out and a $20MM option or something like that.
I think they need to trade him now. They could get a great return. They have no prospects to cover 3B and 2B once Utley and Polanco are gone. They could potentially get a franchise-type 3B plus more.
If you trade him, you can sign Oswalt to a 1-Yr deal, and then next offseason sign someone like Edwin Jackson to a 3-Yr deal with help on the way in the form of Brody Colvin, Jesse Biddle, Trevor May and Jonathan Pettitbone.
If they sign hamels they will have three 20 million dollar pitchers plus a 25 million dollar ryan howard. Thats 85 million dollars tied into 4 players. Kinda risky if you ask me.
not if those 3 pitchers are roy halladay, cliff lee and cole hamels.
why? those 3 are impervious to injury?
so far.
well i think the original posters point was that in the event they arent healthy, thats a TON of money tied up in only a few players and as such is a risky proposition. (and trust me, i DO NOT root for injuries. Im clearly a mets fan but would take much more pleasure in a hard fought win over the phils when both teams are healthy)
Hopefully he hits free agency, he would make a ton of money, 7/140 or 6/120. The yankees and sox would be all over him.
perhaps other teams besides yanks and sox would be interested as well
He’ll be a dodger for sure.