Cole Hamels likely made himself a ton of money on Sunday.
The big question now is who will be picking up the check.
With scouts from several teams in attendance, Hamels was dazzling as the Phillies beat the Rockies, 5-1, in the Mile High City. The same description could be used for Hamels’ value. Mile High, that is.
Hamels’ performance also puts the Phillies in a tough spot. The trade deadline is two weeks away. Hamels will be a free agent after this season.
Phillies G.M. Ruben Amaro Jr. does not have a lot of wiggle room here. He must either sign Hamels to a megadeal, or trade him for a boatload of prospects.
It is believed the team is in the process of putting together a substantial offer to the ace left-hander.
Jack McCaffery offers his take on the Hamels talks here.
Here’s mine: The Phillies should sign him. Name me the other home-grown pitchers drafted and developed by this team that have gone on to become legitimate Cy Young contenders/ Yeah, thought so.
Hamels put the Phillies on his back and delivered a World Series championship a few years back. It’s easy to forget that rotation did not include Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.
Allowing Hamels to walk, or even trading him with the hope of then resigning him in the off-season, would be a PR disaster for a team that is looking for a lifeline.
Having said that, there’s no way the Phillies are simply going to allow Hamels to walk away.
I expect the team to resign him, then make a last-ditch effort to claw their way back into the NL East race and that second Wild Card spot.
And even if they don’t a rotation that includes Hamels, Halladay and Lee makes them one of the favorites again next year.
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