If National League fans feared the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation, headlined by three-time Cy Young Clayton Kershaw and 2011 AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, then they will want to look away. According to reports, the Dodgers are seriously engaging teams in talks for a third ace before the trade deadline.
CBS reports that the Dodgers have been in discussions with the Philadelphia Phillies about left-hander Cole Hamels, who has a 5-7 record with a 3.63 ERA for the National League East's worst club. Excluding a disaster in his most recent outing, Hamels had a 3.02 ERA in 17 starts.
Hamels has been on the trade block since spring training, but Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro has had a very high asking price of teams looking to acquire the southpaw. Lately, Amaro's demands are said to be more "reasonable," although he hasn't "bent" completely to what suitors think is more appropriate. A rival GM told CBS that Philadelphia wanted "four or five" big prospects in exchange for Hamels.
If they can't get moving on Hamels, the Dodgers are reportedly not opposed to renting Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Cueto, who has been better than Hamels this season. Cueto has posted a 6-6 record with a 2.73 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. Cueto's posted the second best K/9 of his career (8.6) and the finest strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.14) of his career. This campaign comes on the heels of the best year of his career, in which he finished second in Cy Young voting to Kershaw.
[CBS]
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