The Padres have been very active this offseason, attempting to put up some competition in the NL West with the Dodgers. With the acquisitions of Justin Upton, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp, the Padres are already a significantly better team than they were in 2014.
One of their most recent signings was that of free agent starter, James Shields. The two sides agreed on a four-year, $75 million contract, likely eliminating San Diego from the Cole Hamels sweepstakes. In a recent article from Ken Rosenthal, he reveals that the Padres made a significant offer for Hamels before signing on the dotted line with Shields.
The Padres wanted Hamels. The Padres made an aggressive offer for Hamels. The Padres are one of nine teams that can acquire Hamels without his permission.
The Phillies, though, are adamant about getting one blue-chip prospect in any trade for Hamels, sources say. It is not known precisely how they view the Padres’ top three prospects — righty Matt Wisler, catcher Austin Hedges and outfielder Hunter Renfroe. But a source last month said that in the Phillies’ view, the Padres might “not have enough.”
Such views obviously are subjective, but another source said the Phillies’ preference is to trade with the Red Sox, presuming that they could get outfielder Mookie Betts or catcher Blake Swihart to lead the package.
The likelihood of Cole Hamels being in another uniform by the time Opening Day is upon us is very low. That is, unless the Red Sox decide to part with one of their premiere prospects to state their case in the AL East and all of baseball this upcoming season.
