Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels has made it known he’d welcome a return to Philadelphia, where he pitched from 2008-15, but a reunion appears “unlikely,” Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes. The Phillies are trying to stay away from the starting pitching market in general, according to general manager Matt Klentak, who said Friday that the team’s rotation “has been the strength of our team this year.” It’s doubtful Hamels would serve as a legitimate upgrade over any of the Phillies’ starters, especially at such a high price ($22.5MM salary this season and then a $6MM buyout in 2019). Formerly a front-end hurler, the 34-year-old Hamels has managed a 4.36 ERA/5.06 FIP with an equally unappealing home run rate (1.73 allowed per nine) over 109 1/3 innings in 2018.
- More on the Rangers, whose relievers are drawing trade interest, per TR Sullivan of MLB.com. Closer Keone Kela and lefty Jake Diekman seem to be garnering the most attention from other teams, Sullivan suggests. That’s unsurprising – after all, both are inexpensive and effective, and they’ve reportedly been on the block for a month.
- Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias is of interest to “at least” one team, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press reports. The 28-year-old, a pending free agent on a $6.275MM salary, is enjoying one of his most productive seasons at an opportune time. With 1.8 fWAR in 350 plate appearances, he’s on pace to surpass the 2.0 fWAR mark for the fourth time. The light-hitting defensive specialist owns a .269/.307/.385 batting line and an 8.9 Ultimate Zone Rating, which ranks second among shortstops.
- Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and other reporters on Friday that the M’s are hoping to address their pitching staff by the deadline. “We’ve certainly had our feelers out there on a variety of different things that would help our pitching staff, whether it be bullpen or starting pitching,” said Dipoto, adding that “we would prefer to focus on pitching.” Dipoto’s less concerned about upgrading the Mariners’ position player group, which will soon get the suspended Robinson Cano back, though Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says (video link) the team’s “open to any upgrade” – even an offensive one. The same is true regarding the Diamondbacks, who are “exploring a wide range of possibilities,” Rosenthal reports. Although, the bullpen is the likeliest area that both Seattle and Arizona will address, per Rosenthal.
Why does Hamels have a 5.83 ERA at home and 2.93 ERA away!
Hamels has nearly 100 post-season innings in resume. “down year” is concerning, but makes him underrated, in my opinion. Not like his ERA is pushing past 5.00… Hamels gets obliterated pitching home (5.83 ERA, 9GS) But Check out Hamels’ Road ERA (2.93 ERA, 10 GS)
Anyone ever been to a game in Arlington in the summer? That stadium is like an oven. If I were him I’d want to go north too.
It was only 109 degrees today…
Hamels will get pummeled. You don’t just flick a switch and become instantly better with a trade. You can buy low on him and hope but don’t think he is the same Cole Hamels. Fiers is having a great year in Detroit and just Shut Out the Red Sox!
Texas team pitching splits home….5.38 …..away…. 3.91
LoL same rotation that features Bartolo Colon?
Plus, Hamels’ Road ERA is almost one run better
(2.93>3.91)
xabial……My point was and is this. It’s not just Hamels. In fact every SP has a higher era at home except Minor…. H… 3.54 ….A…. 7.04. The rest…..
Perez 10.05 – 6.64
Colon 5.00 – 4.38
Moore 7.38 – 6.75
Fister 6.82 – 2.52
Hamels to Seattle makes sense. High salary which wouldn’t require a lot of prospects and they can afford it. He can’t block a trade there and would be better off pitching at Safeco Field.
That’s assuming the Rangers want salary relief more than prospects.
Every team wants salary relief when they’re losing…
Yeah but not when it costs prospects
It does when your team is shedding the 10+ mil Hamels is due.
Keep in mind the Rangers just took on salary to pick up a decent prospect from the Giants
You forgot to mention the best part ……… Then they released the player! Texas has history of spending… Cole Hamels. Choo… Darvish’s $50M+ Posting fee before 20M cap (outbid Yankees!) Not all things being equal for loser teams
Hey guys… Not only did the rangers eat a large portion but they settled for lesser prospects. You ought to listen to me when I tell you something will happen.
Kela & Diekman for Fried & Davidson
We just watched Familia go for two prospects that couldn’t even sniff the top 100 prospects so I don’t see Fried going for either of those two. Replace Fried with a lottery ticket
Familiar-Rental. Any questions?
Don’t compare the value of 2 months vs 5+ years.
Dude, you’re always over compensating on here. Thank goodness you aren’t the Braves gm, cause you’d over pay for everyone
Jose Iglesias is an excellent defender. He has no power, some speed, he doesn’t strike out much… there are only about 3 teams that he would be an upgrade… I don’t see a trade for iggy.
What teams do you see interested?
I don’t see anyone interested. Iggy is a free agent at the end of the season, so only playoff teams would want him and they are all set at short. Maybe the D’Backs, but they have bigger needs.
Teams with worse shortstops would be the Orioles, Royals and Marlins. Padres are pretty bad, but Galvis is filling in till Tatis Jr takes over.
DBacks don’t need a defensive upgrade at short. Ahmed is a gold glove candidate. If they upgrade in the infield, it’ll be with someone that can hit.
Milwaukee. Solid defense improves the pitching, and he won’t block their young guy next year. Current options can move to 2B.
If you are Seattle, do you look at him with the intention to move Segura to 2B for the remainder of the year? They will not have Cano’s bat in the playoffs, and Iglesias is both a better glove and bat than Dee Gordon. Iglesias is a top-5 defensive shortstop. As someone else mentioned, light bat but great eye and outstanding glove.
Iglesias, Greene, and a prospect for a package centered around Evan White?
I’m sorry, but since when is Jose Iglesias considered a better bat than Dee Gordon?
More doubles, more walks, way fewer strikeouts. You can argue BA all day, but there is more to baseball than just average. Which is where RBIs still hold value in learning about apples-to-apples comparison, especially when Team Runs Per Game is in favor of the Mariners (4.2 > 3.9).
Simply put, singles and strikeouts aren’t as valuable as what Iglesias brings.
research.sabr.org/journals/base-out-precentage
This is, essentially, to what I am referring.
Boston where he started his career? Just with Holt getting spiked every month, Pedroia out and Nunez not the same player since his knee injury, Iggie would be like Marerro last year. Would be cheaper than Cabrera. I realize Phillips is in the minors but Iggie can also protect at SS.
No you just saw Familia go for $1 million in international bonus money and he is a rental Kela has control for a couple years
Not saying my proposal was not debatable but your reasoning is not legit
FYI there’s a reply button on this site
Cole is a mile past his prime, overdue toast!
Any playoff game he will get smoked!
Mark that down,,,,,,he’s done
Klentak can deny it all he wants, but I still think the Phillies add a left-handed starter. They may or may not be in on Hamels, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go after Happ. If you look at their starting staff (and yes it has been good), only Arrieta has post-season experience and only Arrieta has been in a pennant race. If they are playing the Dodgers or Cubs in the post-season, they are at a severe disadvantage experience wise. Happ & Hamels both have pitched in the playoffs. That experience would be helpful to a young pitching staff both in the pennant race & in the post-season.
Lack of experience means little. It doesn’t mean the youngsters will automatically crack under pressure. They may well rise to the occasion. Lack of experience simply means you don’t know. That’s also true of the experienced players.
Not trying to convince somebody to take Cole (I am a Ranger fan) but from a pure baseball standpoint, couldn’t he have some value as a guy that can help limit some innings and get some guys some rest as they come into the end of the season and then in the playoffs serve as a backup starter should a pitcher starter to falter and not make it out of the first couple of innings? I am not sure how many innings the Phillies staff have or how many more they have over the previous year so this is just conversational talk. With the hybrid type roles some pitchers have taken I could see this being useful. And who knows, maybe he gets energized and finds the ace type stuff one last time. Pretty sure the Rangers would sell pretty low or even kick in $6mil for the buyout.
The Phillies don’t need any pitchers.
What they don’t need is Pivetta’s downward trend. Since June 1st (9 games – 38.1 IP – 180 BF) 6.57 era and a slash against of .308/.375/.532. It’s hard to watch.
Yes, they do. They have one starter who has been in a pennant race, Arrieta. They have one starter who has been in the post-season. Arrieta. Their staff is very young & has never faced the pressure of a pennant race. Pivetta has struggled recently. Velasquez seems to get injured a lot. Can Eflin continue to pitch the way he has? That is a question mark. Even Arrieta hasn’t been consistent. Nola has been their most consistent pitcher. They could use another starter
Didn’t you just say this? Repeating it doesn’t change the validity of your argument.
Either way, Lord is correct. Phillies have a golden opportunity with the Nats (so far) not gaining ground and Atlanta almost admitting they will only make small moves. Getting a #3 to replace the #5 and pushing the current 3 and 4 down a notch makes their team better.
Although Happ is more affordable, I think Cole Hamels would get pumped up coming back to Philly and I think he’d get hot down the stretch. Being around Arrieta might also help him. Pitching in the NL East is much better than the AL West in that launching pad in Arlington.
And Pivetta just gave up 6 more runs today (4 earned) in 5.1 innings. They need to do something.
Exactly. Besides, Philly would be wise to get a lefty starter to go after Murphy and Harper for a couple at bats in a pivotal late season game for the division.
Iglesias is having his best defensive year. And since starting something like 3-30 he has hit close to .300, though with very little power. He is on pace for 20+ stolen bases. He won’t cost much in trade, as Det plans to let him walk. Even if only a back-up or injury insurance, he’d be a nice get for a contender.
I agree he’s having a great year… but back-up middle infielder is like the last thing playoff teams look to improve. #1,2, and 3 are Bullpen… #4 Starter #5 big bat off the bench… #6 Corner infield that can pinch hit…. #7 Catching depth…. # 8 Back-up middle infielder.
The team that trades for him would be trading for a starting SS. That is not a glove that sits.
Steven Pearce is not a 2b for Red Sox. They got him as a back up/platoon for Moreland at 1b and a pinch hitter because he kills lefties.
Pearce’s glove is perfect for DH.
Jose Iglesias is finally healthy and is hitting better than his stats show. His defense is world class and helps pitching staffs look better. I will assume PHI is the team looking at him. The IF s in PHI are unsettled. Iglesias would stabilize them until next season. I think he would fit in MIL perfectly. The MIL offense doesn’t need his bat but that young pitching absolutely does need his defense.
Iglesias has a bad attitude and is not a team player. This isn’t lost on other teams. He had issues in Boston and Detroit. He can walk.
bleacherreport.com/articles/1633839-boston-red-sox…
themajors.net/detroit/jose-iglesias-proves-he-just…