Phillies trade rumors: Cole Hamels an unlikely target as Cubs ramp up pursuit
Phillies trade rumors surrounding Cole Hamels aren’t great
Despite the Phillies trade rumors surrounding the team wanting to make a major upgrade, don’t expect Cole Hamels to be included in that list of key targets.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post and MLB Network first reported Thursday morning that the Chicago Cubs are “making inroads” to acquire the former Phillies ace from Texas. League insiders Jim Bowden and Jon Heyman also confirmed the two teams talking, with Bowden saying the Cubs would give up lower level prospects in a potential deal.
Seeing Hamels go to the Cubs would be ironic after the lefty threw a no-hitter against the team in his final start with the Phillies.
While no deal has been made between the two sides, it sounds unlikely the Phillies have any reunion with Hamels this season.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said the team hopes to avoid the starting pitching market, which lost one of it’s biggest pieces after former Phillie J.A. Happ went from the Blue Jays to the Yankees for two players.
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Despite injuries to many of the back end starters this year, the Phillies starting rotation is only allowing 4.18 runs per game, the seventh-best mark in the National League. The rotation’s 51 quality starts is the most among National League rotations and the fourth-best in baseball.
On Thursday night one of the organization’s top pitching prospects Ranger Suarez will make a spot start after the team used two starters in a double-header earlier this week. Suarez was recently ranked as the organization’s eighth-best prospect and their second-best left-handed pitching prospect by MLB Pipeline.
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Suarez will be the first lefty to start for Philadelphia since September of 2016, and could put the Phillies in their first multi-game hold of first place in the division since 2011, according to ESPN’s Stats and Info.