MLB Trade Rumors: Philadelphia Phillies Must Keep Cole Hamels

The 2012 season has been nothing but disastrous for the Phillies thus far. The Phillies have played exactly half of their schedule and it hasn’t been pretty. They currently reside in last place of the NL East with a record of 36-45.

Ryan Howard has still not played a game for the Phillies as he and Roy Halladay currently remain on the disabled list. For the Phillies to make the postseason, they will likely need to win 88-plus games. If they finish the season 52-29, they will hit exactly 88 wins on the season.

Many fans have given up on the Phillies this season suggesting that they should start auctioning off their biggest asset: Cole Hamels.

This would be a massive mistake for the Phillies. It’s perplexing why they haven’t already given Hamels the huge extension that he deserves. The southpaw is 28 years old and might be the best left-handed pitcher in the game.

He also won the Phillies a World Series in 2008. Homegrown talent is supposed to be taken care of, and yet, Jon Heyman reports the Phillies are supposedly shopping their only superstar in the prime of his career. 

The idea makes little sense. This is an aging ball club that got old really, really fast. The Phillies entire infield is over 30 years old. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are both in their thirties, too.

Hamels is going to be seeking a huge pay day, but it’s well deserved. He has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball for several years. He is young and left-handed, a coveted combination in baseball.

If the Phillies organization has truly decided that this team is too old to win, the last thing they should be doing is trading Cole Hamels. A more intelligent move would be trying to trade Lee so they could free up more money for Hamels.

A much smarter idea would be to build around Hamels, who has a lot of baseball left in that left arm.

Unfortunately, this Phillies team is sinking fast. They are currently on life support and the return of Howard and Halladay will likely be too little too late.

The Phillies ultimately need to get younger and there will be changes made. Hamels should be re-signed, but I think the Phillies would have done it already if they were going to. It’s unfortunate because he never received the love from Phillies fans that he deserved.

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