The MLB hot stove season rolls on, and Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels remains a hot commodity. According to The Boston Globe several teams are reportedly looking into Hamels trades, and the Houston Astros are emerging as a sleeper.
Globe writer Nick Cafardo included Houston, who surprised the baseball world in 2014 by not coming in last place in the American League West division, as suitors for Hamels.
"4. Cole Hamels, LHP, Phillies - The Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers, Padres, and Rangers are interested in Hamels. The sleeper team is the aggressive Astros," Cafardo wrote in his Sunday Notebook column.
Hamels would be a veteran addition to a very young roster, and a much-needed injection of talent into their rotation. In 2014 Houston allowed the fourth-most runs per game in the American League (4.46), had the fourth-worst ERA (4.14), and the fourth-worst WHIP (1.33).
Hamels, pitching for a last-place Phillies squad, posted a 9-9 record that belied a stellar 2.46 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 204.2 innings of work. The three-time All Star struck out 8.7 batters per nine innings, and walked 2.6.
The Astros would be competing with some heavyweights, however. The defending-champion San Francisco Giants are said to be interested if they can't land either Max Scherzer or James Shields via free agency with the money freed up from losing Pablo Sandoval to Boston.
The Chicago Cubs were in the running, although the signing of Jon Lester to a six-year, $155 million contract could preclude them from more signings. Three other teams listed are the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.
Texas is the least likely of the bunch; Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has said that major additions are less likely than smaller role players that can add to their core.
"Before we jump out and add a 'finishing' type piece, I'd like to see where we are with our core players. Is it prudent to be a little more conservative right now and add some pieces to the core and still maintain our flexibility?" Daniels said.
Los Angeles is an odd choice seeing as how they have the reigning back-to-back NL Cy Young winner (Clayton Kershaw), a former AL Cy Young (Zack Greinke), and a capable third starter in Hyun-jin Ryu. Finally, the Padres made a splurge by trading for pricy slugger Matt Kemp, and their focus seems to be on adding more offense.
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