The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the 2015 MLB offseason's constant topics because of ace left-hander Cole Hamels' trade prospects. The rebuilding Phillies have begun to sell off veterans, and Hamels is the most valuable player they have on the roster.
Finding a trade partner has been difficult, however, because of general manager Ruben Amaro has been "unrealistic in his expectations."
Hamels, 31, has four years remaining on his deal at $23.5 million a season and a club option at $20 million in 2019. That's a big price for a 31-year-old with quite a few innings under his belt, and the acquiring team is also expected to cough up several prospects too.
The rumored suitors have been many; at some point or currently the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. Some of those teams' interest cooled though when their upper-tier prospects entered the discussion.
Per CSN Philly the Padres were asked to give up catching prospect Austin Hedges, the organization's top-rated farmhand, while the Red Sox were asked for MLB-ready Mookie Betts and catching prospect Blake Swihart.
In the cases of other potential landing spots, teams have filled the need for a top-flight starting pitcher. The Cubs chose to spend big on free agent left-hander Jon Lester rather than part with their bounty of budding stars, while the Cardinals traded for offense and locked up second-tier righty Lance Lynn.
The Dodgers are a curious case seeing as how they already have two Cy Young winners in their rotation. Their interest seems to be born of their ability to afford Hamels rather than need. They also had an outfield glut and could've afforded to give up outfielder Joc Pederson, but have since dealt Matt Kemp and now need Pederson to man center field.
[WEEI]
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