My early thoughts on the GM Meetings and Phillies chatter:
- I'm not a huge fan of trading Cole Hamels, and I'm certainly not at all a fan of trading him to Boston. I disagree with my friend Frank's assessment that Boston has good young talent- I see little I'm interested in there. If we're trading Utley and making Betts a second baseman, I could almost swallow him as the main piece of the deal, but i'm not nearly as high on him as everyone else is, and only Bogarts otherwise interests me at all (and we don't need him). If we're going to trade Hamels, Chicago interests me, Boston does not really. If we have to swallow sending him to Boston, the deal basically has to start with Betts, and a pitcher who can make our rotation in the next year or so.
- I am anxiously awaiting the Phillies offer to Yasmany Tomas. I'm not as bearish as everyone else about the Phillies future, and I think signing Tomas could make all the difference. A player of this caliber slotted into our outfield could change everything. I'd go $100 million to get him.
- A complete sell-off, while painful, does make more sense than keeping everyone together. With that said, those aren't the only two options, and the Phillies can go other directions. For instance, trading their aging position players off for pennies on the dollar makes sense, while trading Cole Hamels should be expensive, as his age and contract make him a possibility for the next good Phillies team.
- Howard to the Royals does make sense, and would be one place he could probably be comfortable after his time in Philadelphia. I also still think the Yankees make sense, provided they're committed to him DH'ing.
- I'm okay with trading Jimmy Rollins, but not to the Mets. Just, no.
