What The Cole Hamels Trade Means

That's Weird.

The inevitable happened this week. The man perhaps most responsible for the only championship for a Philadelphia sports team in my lifetime got shipped off to the Texas Rangers for a restocking of the Phillies farm system. The Phillies have needed to trade Cole Hamels for the past few years but as the dust is settling on this trade, early indications have you believing they may have sold him at near peak market value. No-hitters can help that. Here is the entire trade breakdown, which took almost two days to make official.

RANGERS GET:

Cole Hamels (Phillies paying $9.5 million of the $82.5 million left on Hamels deal)

Jake Diekman

PHILLIES GET:

Matt Harrison – oft injured former All-Star starting pitcher. Think Chad Billingsley. The Phillies will pay out the $33.5 million left on his contract and he has back issues that make you think he may never start a game for the Phils.

Jorge Alfaro – Catcher – Minor League prospect.

Nick Williams – Outfielder – Minor League prospect

Jake Thompson – Pitcher – Minor League prospect

Alex Asher – Pitcher – Minor League prospect

Jerad Eickhoff – Pitcher - Minor League prospect

Alfaro and Williams are the keys to the deal for the Phils. While the Phillies did not land top Rangers’ prospect Joey Gallo (I said Jerry Gallo), Ruben, or whomever is making decisions in that muddled mess the Phils call upper management, did get the 3^rd and 5^th ranked prospects out of the Rangers system. Teams just don't give up their best offensive prospects these days, they're too valuable at too cheap a price.

Alfaro just turned 22 and has been hitting with consistent power and average at single A and double A levels. The same can be said for the 21 year old left fielder Williams. Most talking heads and people who know what they’re talking about, or at least  people who act like they know what they’re talking about, are saying that this deal is a win-win for both teams at this time. Of course, the Rangers have a proven commodity locked up for the next three years, albeit at a significant price, and the Phils have 6 guys that may or may not contribute in a big way.

Time will tell, but this deal certainly feels like it borrowed a bit of a Sam Hinkie way of thinking, or at least Billy Beane. The Phils got a diverse group of talent back that is giving them the best chance to find All-Star level or better players. With so many holes in the current lineup, the Phils can use all the talent they can assemble.

It feels like a smart way to go about rebuilding the franchise. The brass is giving the team a better chance to grow talent within the farm system that can eventually contribute to a winning ballclub. I still need some accountability for the current mess the Phils are in though. They hold the best record in Major League Baseball in the more than two weeks since the All-Star Break at 12-2. It’s astounding that they have been capable of this sustained amount of great play. Despite this miraculous run, they are still a game and a half worse than the Marlins for the worst record in baseball. They are +35 in run differential since the Break, tops in the Majors, and still -125 on the season. The next worst in the Majors is the Braves at -70. The NL East is pretty bad, huh? Well, the Phils are still the worst of the bunch.

This Hamels move, the shipping of Jonathan Papelbon out of town to the Nationals for staring pitching prospect Nick Pivetta - another guy with a chance to contribute, have been smart moves. Getting anybody to take Papelbon was a plus to get his contract and his attitude off the books. Even sending Ben Revere to the Blue Jays for a few more pitchers feels like it makes sense. Everybody saw Revere’s ceiling and said that’s fine we’ll see ya later, thanks for the memories Benny.

So what I’m trying to say is; all this wheeling and dealing is making the Phils seem like the future could be a little closer than we thought, but that is not a reason to grant Ruben Amaro a reprieve. A better GM would’ve diverted course when he saw that mountain in front of him rather than flying the plane straight into it, as has been discussed on this blog before.  I’m frightened his stench from the past trades, contracts and picks has stayed in a bed he shit long ago and could still rub off on these trades and any future transactions. I just need him gone and then I can start to feel good about this team and it’s future again. I don’t think that’s much to ask when the results on the field have been exponentially worse each year he has been the GM.

Go Phils.