After doing nothing before the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies have started putting names on the waiver wire. On Saturday, Philly revocably waived it's first batch of players, and placed the rest of their notable names on the waiver wire on Monday.
Of the names on the list Monday, Cole Hamels is the least likely to clear waivers, despite having a $104 million contract that the claiming team will have to pick up or negotiate. He is still one of the better pitchers in the bigs and will either be blocked via waiver claim or straight up claimed out of curiosity by any number of teams around the majors.
According to Jon Heyman at CBS Sports, a rival GM has claimed the Phillies "want the world," in return for the talented pitcher.
As they should, really, because Hamels is a true left-handed, ace starter, and could anchor most team's rotations. Also, given the amount of injury stricken rotations around the league, Hamels should be a hot commodity.
Right now he has an ERA of 2.42, with a 6-6 record. He has 139 strikeouts over 137.1 innings, and a WHIP of 1.11.
According to past reports, Hamels has been involved in trade talks involving a number or teams.
Any team on the cusp of success, like the New York Yankees, who are chasing the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, or the Los Angeles Angels who are trying to catch the Athletics in the American League West should be interest in Hamels.
Right now the Yankees are 58-53, and trail the Orioles by 5 games, and the Angels are 67-44 and trail the Athletics by one game.
Both teams have been linked to Hamels in trade talks, but the Yankees might make more sense at this point, after losing starting Pitcher David Phelps to injury over the weekend.
