Often, punditry guesses on signings and trades are of little use beyond the conversation they generate. Sometimes, however, the guesses are informed by things heard behind the scenes – things that maybe don’t rise to the level of report-worthy or report-able – and mean a little bit more. The problem, of course, is that you can’t really tell which guesses are the former and which are the latter.
So, then, I present to you a Buster Olney guess on where Cole Hamels is traded (among other guesses in his latest column): the Chicago Cubs.
The Dodgers still seem to me the best fit, but obviously the Cubs do make sense (and, as we’ve seen in recent rumors, they genuinely do seem to be interested). The Dodgers are connected to many other starters as well, so it’s conceivable they’ll pull the trigger on another deal, leaving the Cubs or Red Sox or Rangers or Yankees(?) among a very small contingent of interested, able teams.
So far, Hamels is looking mighty good today. Then again, a lot of pitchers have looked pretty good against the Cubs lately.