There’s not a lot of meat to this yet, but Jon Morosi just reported something of obvious interest:
Sources: #Rangers and #Phillies having ongoing dialogue about Cole Hamels, and he is willing to waive no-trade to Texas. @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 23, 2015
#Rangers expect to have Perez, Harrison, and Holland back in rotation this season, but they view Hamels as elite upgrade worth pursuing.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 23, 2015
The Rangers have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, despite a wide range of injuries, which only underscores how difficult it is to project what’s going to happen in this trade season. It wasn’t but a month ago that the Rangers looked like sellers. Now, they’re just three games back of the Astros in the AL West, and one game back in the Wild Card race.
This is very much worth following purely for the Cole Hamels aspect, but it’s also notable because it emphasizes why the Phillies may wait on moving Hamels until the market is clarified. The Rangers are popping back into the market … what team might do so next week? Next month?
As for the Hamels-specific side of things, I’m thinking there’s at least a little bit of smoke here, because why would Morosi have occasion to report that Hamels is willing to accept a trade to the Rangers if there wasn’t something at least semi-serious going on?
The Cubs have been known to have interest in Hamels dating all the way back to last August when they claimed him on waivers, but were unable to consummate a deal. While I don’t think Hamels is the best fit for the Cubs right now – give me a rental arm, and then keep options open for free agency after the season – you never know how the price might shake out.