Cole Hamels talking 2day and sounds like he is backtracking fr comments in USA today bout wanting to go place and win pic.twitter.com/aEhk62wNfl
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 21, 2015
Cole Hamels took his turn at the mic today and tried to find a balance between comments he made to USA Today the other day that indicated his desire to be traded and his probably-sincere love for the City of Philadelphia. While some reporters (Eskin above) said it sounded like Hamels was backtracking, he may have simply been trying to deflect any attention away from the negativity that came when Hamels said that "winning will not happen here" anytime soon.
In the press conference broadcast on CSN Philly and transcribed by Matt Lombardo of NJ.com, Hamels did not deny that he did not believe winning was not nigh, he chose to focus on the angle that there is indeed excitement for this Phillies team, even in its current state:
"When you see the type of bullpen and some of the young guys that have come in," Hamels told reporters Saturday. "There's still some really good excitement that we can give the fans something to expect. At the same time, you can't count us out."
Hamels does indeed wish to win, and feels that Philly would be the ideal place to do so:
"I still have a long time," Hamels said. "I still have a long contract. I think being able to live in Philly, making Philly my full time home, you get to see a lot. You get to see the fan's standpoint. You get to see the owner's philosophy. It's tough to admit that it might have to be a direction change.
"Being able to win in this city and see what it means not only to the fans but to the organization, you see that they want it to come back very quickly. In the type of contract that I have, I know that I'll still be here when the time comes for anything to happen."
Of course, Hamels could be moved at any time, as soon as a team is willing to pay the Phillies' asking price.
Hamels did recognize that there was a "philosophy change" in the organization. The Phillies got old quickly, and as a player who was a tick younger than the Phillies former core of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, all of similar ages, it is his young age that can net the Phillies prospects for the future. Until that happens, Hamels is stuck in Philadelphia, so he might as well focus on the positive.
