The Texas Rangers are closing in on a trade for left-handed starter Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies, per T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, and Jayson Stark of ESPN.
Jerad Eickoff and catcher Jorge Alfaro are expected to be a part of the package to Philadelphia, per Sullivan, as well as Nick Williams, per Jon Morosi of Fox Sports.
The trade is expected to completed on Thursday.
The addition of Hamels is more of a long-term play for Texas (47-52), currently five games out of the second wild card position, but also behind five other teams.
It was almost expected that a trade for Hamels would go down to the wire -- Philadelphia was reportedly fine with waiting out the market in the hopes that it would drive up Hamels' price. Part of Hamels' attraction is that he is still under contract for three more seasons, with a team/vesting option in the fourth year. That not only made Hamels a hot commodity, but it tagged the lefty with a pricier acquisition.
Hamels is owed $22.5 million in each of his next three seasons, with the 2019 option totaling $20 million that includes a $6 million buyout. He's owed approximately $8 million for the remainder of the 2015 season -- which, when you consider his pitching ability, isn't a bad deal at all.
In his last start as a Philly, Hamels threw a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs, giving up just two walks while striking out 13 batters. Interestingly enough, the Cubs were one of several teams that had contacted the Phillies about Hamels. Others included the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, and on Sunday it was noted by Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal that the Rangers were the favorites to land Hamels.
Sunday's no-hitter came after back-to-back rough starts in which he didn't make it out of the fourth inning on July 10 and lasted just three innings on July 19. Rumors speculated that Hamels might be injured, in which case it would've been difficult to find a team willing to pick him up. However, those were Hamels' only two starts in which he lasted less than five innings.
At the time, Hamels attributed his rough starts to nothing more than a temporary rut. Considering his season otherwise and the no-hitter, he should be a solid starter down the stretch. This year, Hamels owns a 3.64 ERA, 3.20 FIP and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. However, Hamels also averages 7.9 hits per nine innings with 2.7 walks per nine, so unless Hamels is throwing another no-hitter, fans should expect to see traffic on the bases during his starts.
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